We measure the effect of an anti-predatory pilot program (Chicago, 2006) on mortgage default rates to test whether predatory lending was a key element in fueling the subprime crisis. Under the program, risky borrowers and/or risky mortgage contracts triggered review sessions by housing...

The author finds that the bank production process was significantly distorted during a period typically associated with heavy industry regulation. As deregulation occurred, banks fully exploited the cost advantages associated with size and reaped significant gains from technological change....

This article summarizes a conference, titled “Issues Related to Central Counterparty Clearing,” cosponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the European Central Bank on April 3–4, 2006. The conference brought together industry executives, policymakers, and research economists to...

This article provides background on the evolution of Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and fair lending regulations, summarizes the relevant economic literature, and evaluates the effectiveness of the regulations by analyzing recent trends in mortgage lending activity. Are the trends in line with...

This volume critically re-examines the profession's understanding of asset bubbles in light of the global financial crisis of 2007-09. It is well known that bubbles have occurred in the past, with the October 1929 crash as the most demonstrative example. However, the remarkably well-behaved...

This volume critically re-examines the profession's understanding of asset bubbles in light of the global financial crisis of 2007-09. It is well known that bubbles have occurred in the past, with the October 1929 crash as the most demonstrative example. However, the remarkably well-behaved...

It is typically argued that predatory lending generated significant social costs and played a central role in creating the subprime crisis. However, there are few estimates of its true effect. We estimate the effect of predatory lending on the residential mortgage default rate using an...