This book demonstrates how housing systems are built from political struggles over the distribution of welfare and wealth. The contributors analyze varieties of residential capitalism through a range of international case studies, as well as investigating the links between housing finance and the current international financial crisis.

'Schwartz and Seabrooke have done what most academics fail to do; produce a volume that is both timely and extremely relevant. As well providing us with a panoptic view of the global housing crisis, they frame it with a theoretical framework that clarifies the central causal and constitutive processes at the heart of the global crisis. If you want to understand why the financial world just blew up I cannot think of a better place to start.' - Mark Blyth, The Johns Hopkins University, USA