You forgot where he started: He put $60,000 down on his original purchase and after 10 years he paid down $45,000 of the $240,000 mortgage. The proper question is should he have gotten poor just for owning a home?
Houses are nothing more than a durable consumer good. They build new ones every day
Do you really think that new houses will be built every day in a deflationary environment?
Under your desired inflationary model, Americans now have the lowest home equity in history (55%).
Don't worry, under your desired deflationary model that 55% home equity will get lower every year.
Savings slows the economy? The Chinese have the highest savings rate in the world
The Japanese have a very high savings rate as well. How much has their economy grown in the last 16 years?
You have a very unique and wrong headed view of deflation.
Owning a home? He's third in line.
The proper question is: Does the government have any business rigging the real estate market for Joe Homeowner? And if we grant them the power to do so, will this power be used predominantly for the public good rather than the centralization of economic and political power?
Surely this is all for Joe's benefit. Surely the GSEs aren't bankrolling half of Congress's re-election efforts. Surely they're just in it for the children. When's the last time they stated their books again? Surely a multi-trillion dollar entity with Joe Taypayer on the hook can state their books, right?