Madison Avenue made the mortgage mess

The change in thinking about homes from shelter to investment that Gene Melchionne pointed out was promoted by the marketing of financial products:  unlock the equity in your home;  put your home’s equity to work, screamed the ads.

Now, that equity wasn’t harming anyone, sitting there idle.  In fact, as we see too vividly today, it was a sign of financial strength.  But those who wanted to sell us something made idle equity a mark of financial naivete, of opportunities lost.

We are urged to make bad financial decisions every day:  “Discover, when life can’t wait.”  “You’re entitled …”   These messages bombard us, and our children.  Spend now, whether you can afford it or not.  No one touts the power of saving.

I don’t  really think that advertising in fact created the mortgage mess singlehandedly, but I do hold marketing responsible for changing our view of our homes in a ultimately disastrous way.  A house is not a piggy bank.