Houses for Sale! Houses for Sale!

Tyler and I have both suggested that increased immigration would help to increase the demand for housing and relieve some of the financial crisis.  Writing in the WSJ Lee Ohanian concurs:

We should encourage the immigration of prime-age individuals. Beginning in 2007, net immigration fell to half of its level over the previous five years. Increasing immigration would increase the demand for housing and raise home prices. And note that the benefit would be immediate. Home prices — and the value of subprime obligations — would rise in anticipation of a higher population base. The U.S. particularly needs highly skilled workers. These workers not only would purchase homes, but would generate higher living standards for all Americans.

More generally, Ohanian warns that what made the Great Depression great was the misguided policies that Hoover and Roosevelt adopted to fight the depression.  Ohanian has an ill-considered swipe at Obama on this score but the general point is valid and worth remembering as we rush onwards. 

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