Smart Talk: Land, Housing, and the Economy

Abstract:

In this edition of Smart Talk, Ed Dodson speaks with Dr. John Muellbauer, Professor of Economics at Nuffield College, Oxford University, and senior fellow at the London-based Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET), about the interactions between the housing market and the wider economy. According to Professor Muellbauer, changes to housing policy enacted in the 1980s have led to high and volatile land prices and a wave of speculation that diverted financial flows away from the productive economy. He argues that many of the current economic and social problems in the UK and across much of the Western World can be traced back to that era.