rich 1.0 Most Americans still see buying a home as the ultimate financial goal, but Jerusalem Demsas thinks homeownership is overrated. Matt Yglesias, a proud homeowner, disagrees. They get into why the American Dream might be a bad financial deal, what's really driving people's demand for stability, and whether the Singapore model has something to teach us. Plus a peer review of a new paper using Swedish lottery data to ask what money actually does to marriages. (00:00) Homeownership is overrated (04:42) The "only path to wealth" myth (10:16) The home equity piggy bank (17:25) The illiquidity problem (22:21) Homeownership brain (27:30) What everyone actually wants: stability (32:57) Rent control is back (35:28) A Singapore-style savings idea (45:17) The YIMBY case for more homeowners (46:45) Peer review: Lottery winners and marriage Support the Show: Get a full transcript, show notes, and an ad-free version: TheArgumentMag.com (http://theargumentmag.com/) New episodes every Thursday—subscribe so you never miss a debate! Once a month, The Argument podcast does a book club episode. This month we are reading Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam. Read along if you are interested, and comment with any questions/ideas you'd like us to explore! The Argument is produced by Justin Zuckerman, fact-checked by Eli Richman, with music by Breakmaster Cylinder and art by Ben Tousley. The Argument https://audioboom.com/channels/5173020-the-argument Audioboom https://audioboom.com 480 95 https://audioboom.com/i/43766254/600x600/c 600 600 <iframe width="100%" height="95" src="https://embeds.audioboom.com/posts/8934037/embed?v=202301" style="background-color: transparent; display: block; padding: 0; width: 100%" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="allowtransparency" scrolling="no" title="Audioboom player" allow="autoplay" sandbox="allow-downloads allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>