This is the latest story in our series on money in politics.
If you have a mortgage on your home, you can deduct the interest from your taxes. It’s a popular, well-entrenched policy. But according to one policy adviser to a U.S. senator, “the mortgage-interest deduction, from a purely policy perspective … makes no sense.”
It’s a view that’s supported by a mountain of academic research: The mortgage-interest tax deduction benefits the rich more than the poor, has little effect on home ownership and isn’t even really a bargain for homeowners because it raises home prices.
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