Republican Congressmen from districts with higher levels of income inequality were more likely to vote for legislation to expand housing credit to the poor in the years before the crisis (almost all Democrats voted for such legislation, making it hard to distinguish their motives). And the effect of spending by the rich on non-rich households’ spending was higher in areas where house prices could move more, suggesting that housing credit and the ability to borrow against rising home equity may have supported over-consumption by the non-rich.
同样有趣的还有该研究所发现的收入不平等性与危机前经济政策之间的联系。在危机爆发的前几年中，来自收入不平等性较严重地区的共和党议员更倾向于赞成扩大穷人的住房信用的立法（但民主党几乎清一色地赞成此类立法，因此较难识别他们的动机）。而就富人支出对小康家庭支出的影响而言，房价变动更大的地区该影响也越大，这表明住房信用和以上涨的房屋价值作抵押贷款的能力通过小康之家支撑了过度消费。