Out-of-control home mortgage finance practices are the origin of today’s financial market tumult. Effective solutions to today’s crises require stabilizing and rationalizing housing finance. Yet, amidst these dramatic market developments and rapid changes in the federal role in the mortgage market, there has been much heat but little light shed on the system of housing finance and the public purposes it must serve.
In cooperation with the Institute for Urban Research at the Wharton School of Business, the Center for American Progress is hosting a public forum on the past, present, and future of federal policy toward the mortgage markets.
Download a primer on the Saving America’s Family Equity Act (pdf)
2:00 – 2:30 p.m.
Welcoming Remarks:
Sarah Rosen Wartell, Executive Vice President and Managing Director for Economic Policy, Center for American Progress
Featured Presentation:
Where Are We Now and How Did We Get Here? A Look at the Data
Susan Wachter, Co-Director, Institute for Urban Research, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
2:30 – 3:45 p.m.
Panel 1: Separating Fact from Fiction: What Worked and What Didn’t in the Mortgage Finance System
Featured Presenters:
Barry Zigas, Director of Housing Policy, Consumer Federation of America
Dean Baker, Co-Director, Center for Economic and Policy Research
Ellen Seidman, Financial Services Policy Director, New America Foundation
Moderated by:
David Abromowitz, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress; Partner, Goulston & Storrs
3:45 – 5:00 p.m.
Panel 2: What’s Next? How Best to Serve Taxpayers, Communities, Homeowners, and the American Economy
Featured Presenters:
Michael S. Barr, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress; and Professor, University of Michigan Law School
Michael Calhoun, President and Chief Operating Officer, Center for Responsible Lending
Ali Solis, Vice President of Public Policy, Enterprise Community Partners
Steve O’Connor, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs, Mortgage Bankers Association
Moderated by:
Andrew Jakabovics, Associate Director for Economic Mobility, Center for American Progress