Postwar housing demand combined family, veteran, and depression fears into reform pressure

Evidence

The nation could not tolerate the backwardness of builders much longer. The unprecedented demand of new families for space, the concern to smooth the return of veterans to civilian life, the fear of a postwar depression – all made the old arguments for reform of homebuilding seem more urgent. To preserve social order, to give the average worker a chance to own property, to provide a healthy environment for children, and to stimulate the economy, the housing industry needed to produce more homes at less cost than ever before. — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside, 118

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Americans most wanted household appliances as the war ended — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside:…, 123; Postwar housing shortage and popular pressure drove Britain’s ambitious Housing Acts — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 437; Rent controls, not disaster, caused the postwar housing shortage. — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 420 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Postwar housing shortage and popular pressure drove Britain’s ambitious Housing Acts #corroborates (0.80) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 437
• Rent controls, not disaster, caused the postwar housing shortage. #contradicts (0.75) — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 420