Dean Baker on Housing and the Recession

As Dean Baker was one of the few to correctly identify the housing bubble early, and predict the bust, I am always particularly interested in what he has to say about housing. In a correction to information linked in my last post, Baker argues that we are not suffering not from the aftermath of the financial crisis, but the aftermath of the housing bust. The current recession is the result of reduced demand on housing, because of the collapse of the housing market at many places in the country. When housing comes back, so will the economy. Incidentally, Baker's solution is that people should have the option of converting their underwater or about-to default-mortgages to rentals. Makes sense to me. I wonder why Obama is not on board?