Being a homeowner is too lucrative for economic good, it can be considered a vocation

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Highest paying job in the economy?

Being a homeowner.

It seems like home ownership is the highest paying occupation. I don't have statistics to back this up, but it's a good guess.

One of the strange distortions of our economy that results from the incredible real estate boom, over much of USA, in the last few years.

Does the occupation of home ownership produce anything useful?

Growing food produces something useful. Manufacturing plywood produces something useful. Educating students, writing software, it's all useful.

What does the occupation of "homeowner" produce for others in the economy?

A question to ponder.

As population grows and land gets scarce, home values rise. At the same time, industry gets more restricted. The economic base seems to be shifting away from employment and toward using land as a wealth generator.

One also notices lots of retail and service jobs.

Where do people get the money to shop in all those stores?

Imagine, our economy based on home equity loans.

Amazing.

Now I hear about a New York Times article on middle aged men dropping out of the workforce. The jobs they find pay much less than what they had in the past.

Many have been laid off or down sized. Quite a few of these folks are coasting, for now at least, on their home equity. Others are on disability and so forth.

It's an interesting article in Today's NY Times business section.

"Men Not Working."