Since the start of the financial crisis of 2007-09, a historically large number of household loans have become delinquent and residential houses have been foreclosed. This situation, coupled with households actively paying down their debt or cutting down on new borrowing, marked the beginning of...

Reports in the popular press and policymakers’ concerns about student loans have greatly intensified in recent years because of rising student loan balances and defaults. Even greater cause for concern arose as student loans outstanding passed credit card debt to become the single largest...

Wenli Li and Rui Yao present their recent research, which tries to quantify the effects of house-price changes on both consumption and the well-being of American households. Their study looks at the economy as a whole, as well as different demographic groups.

Since the mid-1980s, important developments have taken place in the housing finance system. In the 1990s, the U.S. economy experienced the longest expansion in its history, marked by substantial growth in household income and wealth. In addition, Congress passed the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and...

Since 1980, the number of households filing for bankruptcy has more than tripled. This drastic increase in personal bankruptcy filings led to substantial debate among economists and policymakers. That debate subsequently resulted in the enactment of extensive reforms in 2005 when Congress passed...

Reports in the popular press and policymakers’ concerns about student loans have greatly intensified in recent years because of rising student loan balances and defaults. Even greater cause for concern arose as student loans outstanding passed credit card debt to become the single largest...

Homeownership, like baseball and hotdogs, is an integral part of the American culture. Over the past 70 years, the U.S. government has devoted significant public resources to encouraging and promoting homeownership. The recent financial crisis has prompted the government to spend even more on...

Bankruptcy filings are on the rise, and millions of households have either lost their homes to foreclosure or are on the verge of losing them. One subject of debate amid this rising number of bankruptcies is how personal bankruptcy laws deal with residential housing. This subject centers on two...

To explain the historic housing boom and bust, most analysis has identified easy credit in the form of low interest rates, subprime mortgages, and relaxed qualifications for borrowers. But as Wenli Li explains, recent research suggests an additional factor: real estate speculation.