Dennis Ventry Tells It Like It Is on Mortgage Interest Deduction

NPR recently did a radio interview with UC-Davis Law Professor Dennis Ventry, who has recently written a piece on the history of the mortgage interest deduction, concluding with a recommendation that it be eliminated or at the very least reformed. Here’s one portion of that interview:

RAZ (NPR host): If it were up to you, you would recommend that the federal government get rid of this deduction, right?

Prof. VENTRY: Right.

RAZ: Are there economists who would disagree with you and say actually, you’re crazy?

Prof. VENTRY: Not any that aren’t employed by the National Association of Realtors.