David A. Smith Author Archives

Sometimes a revolution happens not with a blare of trumpets but through a thousand small actions in the same direction. Without actually sensing movement, one suddenly realizes the world has become quite different than it was – and is never going back.

Throughout my career, my affordable housing colleagues and I have avoided all mention of the Mortgage Interest Deduction (MID). Whatever we might have thought about it privately, in public our lips were sealed.

A hundred years ago, it was unremarkable to be born at home, and to die at home. Fifty years ago, it was unremarkable for a doctor to make house calls, and the equipment he brought was nothing more than a mysterious black bag, a stethoscope, a tongue depressor, and hands as cold as if he kept them permanently in a freezer.