Through the Roof: Housing, Capitalism, and the State in America and Germany

By: Alexander Reisenbichler

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Synopsis: Housing is the defining issue of our time, driving a persistent affordability crisis, financial instability, and economic inequality. Through the Roof examines the crucial role of the state in shaping the housing markets of two economic powerhouses-the United States and Germany. The book starts with a puzzle: laissez-faire America has vigorously supported homeownership markets with generous government programs, while social democratic Germany has slashed policy support for both homeownership and rental markets. The book explains why both nations have adopted such radically different and unexpected housing policy approaches. Drawing on extensive archival material and interviews with policymakers, it argues that contrasting forms of capitalism-demand-led in the United States and export-oriented in Germany-resulted in divergent housing policies. In both countries, these policies have subsequently transformed capitalism itself.