Decline of the traditional family is undermining US economy
Why are Republican responses to President Obama’s economic plan so anemic? Because Republicans are unwilling to address the root cause of the financial crisis, says Asia Times columnist Spengler. Writing at First Things blog, he cites a recent economic analysis arguing that a significant portion of the US housing market will never recover because baby-boomer Americans have not borne enough children.
The first thing that conservatives have to tell Americans is: “You are poorer because you failed to raise enough children. The decline of the traditional family is undermining the American economy.”
Housing prices are collapsing because single-person households are replacing families with children.
Population projections indicate that , in less than twenty years, the US will have as many single-person households as families with children. Unattached individuals do not need houses on large lots, so the housing market is set for a huge glut of large-lot houses for decades to come.
Conservatives have to cast the blame for the crisis at the culture of death. It isn’t only home prices, of course. If the labor force shrinks because the next generation simply fails to appear, who will pay taxes to support pensions and medical care for the elderly?
[…]
[T]he economic crisis stems from the culture of death and the only solution to the crisis is to restore a culture of life.
Spengler points out that, if conservatives make the economy a culture-of-life issue, they will alienate libertarians. If a long-term solution to the economic mess is to be found, however, American political coalitions will need to be reformed.
UPDATE: The post at First Things has a new byline: David P. Goldman. I take it that is Spengler’s real name.