Well the party is over (for now) with the $8,000 new-homebuyer credit. Many expect the small burst in new-home construction will drop and we will return to the doldrums. I do not think so. 

Well the party is over (for now) with the $8,000 new-homebuyer credit. Many expect the small burst in new-home construction will drop and we will return to the doldrums. I do not think so.

The beginning of a recovery never feels much like a recovery. But my money is on the prognosticators who are calling the recession over. Even the more optimistic of them admit the recovery will be gradual and long and probably will not feel much like a recovery for a while. But this blog is supposed to be about government interference.

Just the other day I heard of a builder advertising a “match” for the $8,000 new-homebuyer credit that the feds were handing out. Interesting approach; I hope they make it work. While the government “stimulus” program did put some real money in some peoples pockets and arguably helped the market to rise, it is the MARKET that needs the help. And I think the market is better off without government programs.

Left to their own devices, homebuilders will build. Lenders will lend. I acknowledge that the federal government does need to regulate the industries such as banking and local governments need to regulate construction (and to some extent the constructors). But government goes way past regulating right into meddling as fast as you can say “TARP.”

So the stimulus money stimulated some home sales artificially early. These people would have bought homes eventually. Now we have to help them pay for it. If the government wants to do something, they need to finish up with their banking reform and let those people get on with their lives (lending money to our customers so we can build). Even some bad legislation would be better than “limbo.”

I should probably stay out of the business of criticizing and commenting on government, so this is the end of this disconnected two-part series. But we should all be wary. Government employment and paychecks should be down at the same rate as the rest of the economy, and it is not happening. What does that tell you? Have the inmates already taken over the asylum? Not to sound alarmist (like so many are these days … to be expected in tough economic times), but it could happen, and if it the growth of government does not slow down soon we may all end up working for the same company.