The true explanation of the housing bubble based on a realization that the price of houses came to be driven by how rapidly the price was rising, instead of the value of the house as a dwelling. This caused mortgages to be paid by refinancing the house, instead of out of other earnings. This caused mortgage defaults to end, even for poor people buying expensive houses. This caused an investment to exist which paid a very high rate of return with no apparent risk. This investment created no wealth, but greatly increased consumption of wealth, making the country poorer, and poorer, and poorer. This caused, and continues to cause, a financial crisis. None of the books written about the bubble realized any of this, so bad regulations were enacted and nothing has been done to remedy the underlying problem. The next President and the next Congress will have to act immediately to put an end to housing bubbles, and none of the candidates have any idea of what must be done.