A Reply to Craig Swan

Craig Swan [11] finds so little merit in our study of housing [1] that he is reduced to praising our "courage" and "vigor" in attacking "widely held views about the relation between the availability of mortgage credit and housing starts." He expresses considerable doubt, however, that the views we attack are, in fact, widely held, or held at all. They are, he believes, a straw man, and our analysis is not only wrong but misdirected.