In America we draw a connection between owning a home and being a good citizen. We've evolved from a feudal society, in which those who didn't own land were almost like slaves, to one in which homeownership is linked to social mobility, as well as civic virtue. In 1835 Alexis de Toc-queville wrote that America "stands alone" in the equality of distribution of property and that "nations are less disposed to make revolutions in proportion as personal property is augmented and distributed amongst them, and as the number of those possessing it increases." In fact, studies like one done by Edward Glaeser at Harvard University and Bruce Sacerdote at Dartmouth have shown that homeowners are indeed better citizens-they are more likely to vote in local elections or to know the name of the head of the local school system. Speaking to a group of people at the much-maligned Fannie Mae recently, I said that I believed the work that they do contributes to the generally good feelings that Americans have toward each other.But what's ironic, as any classical economist would tell you, is that homeownership is actually not a great idea from an investment standpoint. A better strategy would be to diversify as much as possible-put your money into stocks, bonds, many different geographies-and then use the income to rent whatever you like, which allows for greater flexibility and efficiencies.
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机译：在美国，我们在拥有房屋和成为好公民之间建立了联系。我们已经从一个封建社会（一个不拥有土地的人几乎像奴隶）发展到一个住房所有权与社会流动性以及公民美德联系在一起的社会。 1835年，亚历克西斯·德·托克维尔（Alexis de Toc-queville）写道，美国在财产分配的平等中“独立”，并且随着个人财产的增加和分配，以及随着拥有财产的人的数量增加，“民族较少倾向于按比例进行革命。它增加了。”实际上，像哈佛大学的爱德华·格拉瑟和达特茅斯的布鲁斯·萨塞尔多特所做的一项研究表明，房主的确是更好的公民，他们更有可能在地方选举中投票或知道当地学校系统负责人的名字。我最近在备受争议的房利美（Fannie Mae）上对一群人说，我相信他们所做的工作有助于美国人彼此之间普遍拥有良好的感情。但是，正如任何古典经济学家都会告诉你的那样，具有讽刺意味的是，从投资的角度来看，拥有房屋实际上并不是一个好主意。更好的策略是尽可能多地进行分散投资，将您的资金投入股票，债券，许多不同的地区，然后使用收入来租用您喜欢的任何东西，从而提高灵活性和效率。
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