US housing: Missing the obvious

In the wake of the Federal Reserve’s support of Wall Street, US politicians are anxious to be seen helping stretched American homeowners. There’s nothing wrong with that in principle. But in practice, speed in Congress means compromise, and at least one commonsense measure has, for now, been derailed by special interests. The US bankruptcy code encourages debtors with some income to file under Chapter 13, which involves a means test for qualification and a court approved plan to pay debts out o...