societies Essay Historically Illustrating the Shift to Neoliberalism in the U.S. Home Mortgage Market Ivis García City and Metropolitan Planning Department, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 60608, USA;
[email protected] Received: 8 October 2018; Accepted: 12 January 2019; Published: 18 January 2019 Abstract: This article takes a long view of the U.S. housing market; from its inception as locally owned and operated Building Societies, through one of the first major U.S. housing crises in the early 1930s, as well as through the prosperous and surprisingly stable post-WWII era the so-called “Long Boom” during Keynesianism. As labor shortages became more severe, accompanied by stagflation and the simultaneous urban, fiscal, and oil crises of the late 60s and early 70s, key sectors of the U.S. economy rallied to dismantle established Keynesian policies. While the new policies associated with laissez–faire economic liberalism certainly aided in the mobility of capital, the overall economy as a result of this neoliberal turn became increasingly unstable and inequitable. This article seeks to add knowledge to the neoliberalism theory. The author concludes, based on a historical case study of the Savings and Loans industry, that neoliberalism was not a deterministic overthrow of neoliberal ideologues but a haphazard response to the contradictions of Keynesian logic. It is only from a historical approach that we may be able to understand the current housing crisis, foster policy innovation, and allow for institutional change within the U.S. mortgage market sector. Keywords: banking; financial institutions; industry; mortgages 1. Introduction The effect of neoliberalism in the field of housing studies has gained considerable attention among scholars [1–4].