The Impact of Deregulation and Financial Innovation on Homebuyers May 15, 2009

Hosted by American Enterprise Institute.

Increased mortgage securitization and the proliferation of new mortgage products have been widely blamed for the current financial crisis. A new paper by Princeton University’s Harvey S. Rosen, former chairman of President George W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers, and Federal Reserve economists Kristopher Gerardi and Paul S. Willen challenges these assumptions. The authors of the study note that the spread of innovative mortgage products occurred long before the lending boom that led to the current crisis. At this event, they will present their findings that these products actually had a positive effect on mortgage markets by helping good borrowers with high future incomes to buy homes.

Discussing the paper’s conclusions and its implications for financial regulation will be Karen Dynan of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and AEI’s Alex J. Pollock. AEI director of economic policy studies Kevin A. Hassett will moderate.

Official Website: http://www.aei.org/events/type.upcoming,eventID.1925,filter.all/event_detail.asp