Another Example Of Unintended Consequences

How the housing crisis makes the labor market less efficient. See Slate.com: You've Just Been Offered a Great New Job in Charlotte!

And now it turns out that the current crisis might also undermine the efficient redeployment of human resources. A well-timed recent study by economists Fernando Ferreira, Joseph Gyourko, and Joseph Tracy finds that homeowners who have "negative equity" in their homes—that is, a mortgage that exceeds its resale value—are 50 percent less likely to move than those who can afford to pay off their mortgages with a home sale. Given where the housing market is headed, millions of workers may be locked in place in the years to come, throwing yet more sand into the gears of America's market economy. A great job opportunity in Charlotte, N.C., isn't worth much to you if you can't (or won't) sell your house in Tampa, Fla.