The authors construct a quantitative equilibrium model of the housing sector that accounts for the homeownership rate, the average foreclosure rate, and the distribution of home-equity ratios across homeowners prior to the recent boom and bust in the housing market. They analyze the key...

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), which provides insurance for residential mortgage loans, was established by the National Housing Act of 1934 to stimulate housing demand and, in turn, demand for those who build housing. In the housing boom after World War II, FHA loans helped make...

Presented by Charles I. Plosser, President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia> Conference on the Squam Lake Report: Fixing the Financial System, New York, NY, June 16, 2010>

Presented by Charles I. Plosser, President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia> Delaware State Chamber of Commerce, DuPont Country Club, Wilmington, Delaware, May 7, 2010

Presented by Charles I. Plosser, President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Financial Interdependence in the World's Post-Crisis Capital Markets, Presented by the Global Interdependence Center (GIC) in partnership with the Philadelphia Council for Business...

Presented by Charles I. Plosser, President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. ; Blair County Chamber of Commerce Breakfast Club, Altoona, PA, June 11, 2010

Presented by Charles I. Plosser, President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, February 17, 2010

Using the subprime mortgage crisis as a shock, this paper shows that commercial borrowers served by more distressed banks (as measured by recent bank stock returns or the nonperforming loan ratio) took down fewer funds from precommitted, formal lines of credit. The credit constraints affected...

This paper examines the role of inventories in the decline of production, trade, and expenditures in the US in the economic crisis of late 2008 and 2009. Empirically, the authors show that international trade declined more drastically than trade-weighted production or absorption and there was a...

This paper argues that the U.S. bankruptcy reform of 2005 played an important role in the mortgage crisis and the current recession. When debtors file for bankruptcy, credit card debt and other types of debt are discharged - thus loosening debtors' budget constraints. Homeowners in financial...