I'd never really noticed until this morning, but news services are able to change the tone of a story about a government initiative by simply changing from "government money" to "taxpayers' money". The implication behind their usage are quite different. The first is fairly netural, and could even be seen as a positive if it implies that the government is shifting some of its resources towards the new activity. The second is far more negative - implying the wasting of money that is still our own.

On the BBC's Breakfast this morning, while discussing the new aid package to homeowners, the business and financial analyst (whose name escapes me) corrected himself from "government money" to "taxpayers' money", which is fundamentally like correcting yourself from "evening meal" to "dinner". It did reveal a narrative on the story a lot less impartial than I would expect.

They also interviewed a prospective first-time buyer who bemoaned the support (from taxpayers' money) being proposed for current homeowners close to losing their home, while she was unable to afford to get into the housing market (because her after-tax income was not high enough). She forgot a number of things. Firstly, the government is also offering borrowing support for first-time buyers, also funded by taxpayers' money (including that of current homeowners, and more importantly, the wealthy households that aren't in danger of losing their home). Secondly, offering support like this will stimulate activity in the housing market. Homebuilders have massively cut back on all new builds in the short term. Unless they can be persuaded that people will start buying again, the supply of new houses will be low for a long time. This keeps prices high. The new government package reduces the risks to homeowners of buying homes, and will hopefully improve sales.

I just realised that last bit raised another issue. House prices are falling. This has mainly been due to a fall in demand, partially driven by a lack of available credit and tougher borrowing conditions. The problem for first time buyers like the lady interviewed is that this hasn't made buying a house any easier as they haven't fallen enough given the new conditions imposed on people looking for mortgages. Two things could happen. Demand could continue to fall, which will lower prices, but at the expense of many jobs. Alternatively, the government could support homeowners to stop demand falling, hopefully encouraging confidence in the housing market and pushing homebuilders to start investing again. The lower price that would result will allow more people back onto the market, even if credit conditions do not improve immediately.

Update on self: Back from holiday, was nice, moved into new flat.