Commentary

Podcast on Mortgage Interest Deduction Effects

This week I appeared on the Tax Foundation’s regular podcast to talk about the mortgage interest deduction in a preview of our paper being published next week. We talk about the effects of the mortgage interest deduction on home buyers, the housing industry and the wider U.S. economy. To listen, click here: Tax Policy Podcast, July 21, 2011.

Also see the Tax Foundation blog here.

And for more reading on the mortgage interest deduction see this blog post that previewed some of the findings in our paper and critiques many of the frequently cited industry arguments.

If you are interested in the future of the mortgage interest deduction and live in the greater Washington D.C. area, we are holding an event next Thursday with the Tax Policy Center that is free to the public and comes with both a tasty lunch and promise of a robust and well-balanced debate. See the invite here.

(One correction to the podcast: I mixed up some of the numbers in my head. Itemizers are closer to 30 percent of taxpayers and so about 25 percent of taxpayers wind up taking the MID. The number has ranged from 21 to 26 percent over the past decade and a half.)