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At a time when working Americans struggle to make ends meet on multiple fronts, one cost-of-living crisis stands out as particularly dire: the national housing crisis. In our largest cities, decades of systemic underbuilding—de facto mandated by bans on multifamily housing—have made housing a nightmare for longtime residents and newcomers alike. But the housing crisis extends well past New York and San Francisco: Extreme inequality and poor monetary policy have made it difficult to rent and own homes across much of rural and suburban America. The crisis has been exacerbated by the rise of corporate home ownership, which has put housing security further out of reach for working Americans.

Since launching his quixotic presidential candidacy, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made the issue of corporate homeownership central to his campaign. On the campaign trail, Kennedy has notably criticized investment firms BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street by name, arguing they will someday be able to “outbid your children.” But interestingly, Kennedy’s railing against corporate homeownership has not extended to the firm that best embodies the encroachment of finance into housing: Blackstone.