Redirected public funds build housing, jobs, and democratized investment.

Evidence

Alternatives to private investment are real, from collective ownership by workers to public investment. In fact, public investment has historically been at the heart of major technological advancement, and public investment can be made accountable to democratic control. Governments that have the courage to break with the logic of capitalism can empower workers’ initiatives. For example, the government of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is reasserting the priority of housing needs over real estate development. Her social housing initiative is mobilizing substantial public resources to build one million new homes and guarantee a right to housing. A key player in this effort is the National Workers’ Housing Fund (Infonavit), which will directly construct housing to reduce production costs. This initiative is expected to generate 6.1 million direct jobs and 9.2 million indirect jobs. It specifically targets vulnerable groups, including female heads of households, youths, Indigenous communities, and senior citizens. When asked about the funding, Sheinbaum’s response was clear: the money was always there; it just needed to be redirected. — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 402

Categorization

• XREF: The ‘money was always there’ claim speaks directly to the austerity debate central to the reader’s reading purpose.
• SEED: Essay angle: Sheinbaum’s housing program as evidence that austerity results from political choices about where money goes, not from scarcity.