Well, another Christmas Day has come and gone. For me, as an Anglo-Catholic, yesterday was only the first day of a twelve day celebration that culminates with Epiphany, the celebration of the arrival of the three wise men in Bethlehem. One of the best American movies of all time is It’s A Wonderful Life. The film has always been considered a Christmas movie. I’d argue it’s a move about housing and economics as well as basic principles of what, for lack of anything more sophisticated, goodness looks like in a market economy. I’ve chosen this clip because I’ve had to call upon it time and time again to explain money and housing, something that, in our search for bad guys and villains to blame for our problems, either seems complicated or is deliberately muddled for partisan purposes. We need banks. We need financing. And as one wise man, Sal Kahn creator of the Kahn Academy explains, expanding the supply of money through financing creates more opportunities.

When it comes down to it, housing financing is pretty simple. People need housing, builders can build it, and lenders can invest in housing on behalf of their depositors and create a good return for them. I wish I could go down to City Hall and explain to City staffers busily creating a taxing scheme for new housing or to the Tenants Union or to the Wallingford or Eastlake Community Council and say, like Jimmy Stewart,

You’re thinking about this place all wrong as if I have the money back in a safe!

Stewart’s character, the indefatigable George Bailey goes on to describe the fractional reserve economy. The whole relationship of financing is a balance of trust and faith between people. Sure there are agreements, and instruments, and all sorts of rules and regulations and diligence, but in the end it’s about people taking a risk on some other people. And in turn, people who build and operate housing take a risk on the consumers of housing. When that trust and faith breaks down because we’re trying to find the bad guys making housing expensive, the system collapses.

I kind of see Seattle’s general population today as the mob that shows up at the Building and Loan; scared, worried about the future, and worried about their investment. They want answers and solutions now, and like Tom they’d rather get half than nothing. And their worry and concern is legitimate. A lot is at stake as our city grows. Things change, and there are no guarantees that it’s going to all be wonderful. But George Bailey doesn’t give up or give in. Instead, Jimmy Stewart’s character explains as best he can, then he calls on people to “stick together” against their fears. The Building and Loan is saved, and later, so is George.

Someday, maybe, I’d like to name an institute in the name of Miss Davis, the woman who asks for exactly $17.50. What makes her request worthy of a kiss from George is that it’s expression of genuine need, not, like Tom, a desire to “close the account.” We need more people like Miss Davis, and leaders like George Bailey. George Bailey genuinely cares and is willing to fight for what is right no matter what. Imagine a Mayor and Council that could talk the mob down like George, rather than stoking their fears and handing them someone else’s cash. And Miss Davis knows there’s trouble, but she’s not asking for the moon, just $17.50. As long as it’s Christmas, a time of hope, I’d say that someday I hope we’ll get fewer Toms and more Miss Davis’ in the discussions about our housing needs. We just need to have some faith in one another.