At last week’s Mackinac Policy Conference Gov. Whitmer presented a False Solution to the housing crisis

Every year the Mackinac Policy Conference happens, bringing together politicians and various elites from around the state. You can see the list of speakers during the conference last week, a conference that was organized by the Detroit Chamber of Commerce.

This was the setting for comments from Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, comments she made about housing. MLive reported on what Gov. Whitmer had to say last week, providing some context and then a comment from Whitmer: 

Whitmer, speaking Wednesday at the Mackinac Policy Conference on Mackinac Island, said the new goal – an increase of 53% – will help make home ownership more affordable by increasing supply. 

“By raising our statewide housing goal to 115,000 units, we will build more housing to drive down costs and ensure every Michigander has a safe, affordable place to call home,” Whitmer said.

What Whitmer presented to a room full of politicians and private sector elites was essentially a false solution. False solutions are those that do not actually address the problem at hand substantially but deceive people into believing that they do, while at the same time triggering other serious problems.

The market, meaning the system of Capitalism, will never be able to solve the housing crisis, primarily because housing operates within a Capitalist system. This has been true throughout US history and became painfully clear during the 2007 – 2008 financial crisis. In fact, if we follow Whitmer’s recipe for housing, the crisis will only get worse, since under a market-based housing model, the crisis will be perpetual.

Now, I don’t know if Governor Whitmer actually believes that the Capitalist market will actually solve the problem or if she knew that this is what the business people, the powerful people who were in the room wanted to hear. For the Governor to say it for the people in the room makes complete sense, since many of them were large campaign donors that helped her get elected.

So, what would a real solution look like? What we need to see at the state level is one of the demands laid out by the Rent is Too Damn High coalition. This coalition is proposing the state spend $4 billion for social housing in FY25 state budget. The Rent is Too Damn High calls this Social Housing. 

“Social housing is a public option for housing that is permanently affordable, protected from the private market, and publicly owned by the government or under democratic community control by non-profit and cooperative entities. Around the world, robust social housing programs have ended affordable housing shortages; expanded democratic accountability and equitable housing access; and raised populations out of poverty and into prosperity.” Social housing is built to house people well, rather than deliver a profit to developers & managers. States and municipalities in the US are initiating social housing programs anchored by a new generation of public-sector housing development agencies. 

We support a $4 billion state infusion into social housing, to be administered regionally by public developers. This amount could directly support approximately 40-50,000 new social housing units, which would make significant progress towards the state-established goal of building 75,000 total new homes over the next 5 years.”

Adopting a solution to the housing crisis by funding social housing with public funds would be widely embraced and it would take away the profitability of some of the housing market. In addition, it would send a message to the public that housing is primarily a right and not a mechanism to make profits for developers or part of speculative capital, which ultimately drives the cost of housing.

Lastly, it is worth noting that the sponsors of the Mackinac Policy Conference was a broad representation of Corporate America, which you can see here. Clearly the conference is designed for those with deep pockets and easy access to politicians, not regular people, working people, communities of color and those most affected by the housing crisis. Big Gretch once again demonstrated who she owes her allegiance.