Large homebuilders, including Pulte Homes and Hovnanian Enterprises, will recieve hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars under the recently passed Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009.
Gretchen Morgenson writes in the New York Times:
"One can make an argument that throwing money at the banking system is necessary if we are to jump-start the economy. And banks need a bigger capital cushion to protect against future losses.
But dropping helicopter money on the home builders - the folks who massively overbuilt in community after community - seems decidedly less urgent (unless you are one of these companies, of course). Given that the supply of housing far outstrips demand, it is unlikely that these companies will use these tax breaks to hire workers (unless they go into a completely new line of business)."
Thanks to Heather Rose
FULL STORY: Home Builders (You Heard That Right) Get a Gift
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research