Mortgage Tax Breaks Encourage McMansions

Edward L. Glaeser says that the government policy of encouraging homeownership through tax breaks subsidizes Americans to buy bigger homes which waste energy.

1 minute read

May 8, 2010, 7:00 AM PDT

By Tim Halbur


Glaeser writes, "Americans, even poor Americans, have almost twice as much living space as the average resident of France or Germany. According to the Residential Energy Consumption Survey, homes with between 2,500 and 3,000 square feet of heated living space use 41 percent more electricity than homes with between 1,500 and 2,000 square feet of space. In an age of global warming, why should we subsidize the greater energy use inherent in larger homes?"

Friday, May 7, 2010 in The Boston Globe

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