America has a problem with mortgage rates. After decades of them mostly falling, the rate for a 30-year mortgage is stubbornly hovering above 6%, more than twice what it was just a few years ago. That makes it harder not only for first-time homebuyers to afford loans, but also for existing homeowners with cheap mortgages to move. The result is a depressed supply of housing and a less mobile population.
Enter President Donald Trump with a proposed solution that both the left and the right seem to hate: the 50-year mortgage. Much as it pains me to ruin this rare moment of bipartisan harmony, I do not think that a 50-year mortgage is a terrible idea.
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Allison Schrager is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of City Journal.
Photo by Seksan Mongkhonkhamsao/Getty Images