WEBCAST: New Solutions for America's Housing Crisis

WEBCAST: New Solutions for America’s Housing Crisis

October 5, 2011
The Progressive Policy Institute

New Solutions for America’s Housing Crisis
Event Webcast — October 4, 2011

Watch live streaming video from progressivepolicyinstitute at livestream.com

Agenda
Welcome and Keynote Address
8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.

Will Marshall, President, PPI
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.)

Panel I: Housing and the Recovery: Current Challenges
9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.
This panel will provide an overview of the current state of the housing market and its impact and importance to the overall economy. Experts will also discuss specific problems within the housing market including: (1) “underwater” mortgages and loss of equity; (2) weak housing demand despite low prices; (3) foreclosures, mortgage modifications and servicer concerns; (4) the role of government in the housing market and GSE reform; (5) “shadow” inventory and REO properties; and (6) impacts on consumer confidence and middle-class wealth.

Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Cal.)
Stan Humphries, Chief Economist, Zillow
Ron Phipps, President, National Association of Realtors
Phillip L. Swagel, Professor of International Economic Policy, University of Maryland
Moderator: Don Lee, Los Angeles Times

Panel II: Jumpstarting the Housing Market: Innovative Solutions
10:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
Leading academics, industry representatives and advocates will describe and debate their unique solutions to stabilize and restart the housing market in the near- and medium-term. Among the proposals to be presented: (1) help for underwater borrowers; (2) solutions to the foreclosure crisis and mortgage modifications; (2) ideas for managing the vast supply of REO properties; and (3) options for jumpstarting sidelined consumer demand for housing, particularly among first-time buyers.

Richard Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer, Realogy Corporation
David Stevens, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mortgage Bankers Association
Kevin Schneider, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mortgage Insurance-U.S., Genworth Financial
Ellen Schloemer, Executive Vice President, Center for Responsible Lending
Moderator: Jim Tankersley, National Journal

Keynote Address
11:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.)

Luncheon Keynote Discussion: The Government’s Role in Housing—Too Little, Too Much or Just Right?
12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President, American Action Forum
Michael Mandel, Chief Economic Strategist, PPI
Moderator: David Wessel, The Wall Street Journal

Panel III: Housing, Tax Policy and Deficits
1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Reducing the nation’s mounting debt and deficit has become an issue of paramount concern for both policymakers and the public. As the recently-formed deficit-reduction “supercommittee” wrestles with what are certain to be difficult choices, tax policies that encourage homeownership—chief among them the mortgage interest deduction— are increasingly the topic of debate. This panel will provide a balanced look at the costs and benefits of using tax policy as a means of promoting homeownership in the broader context of the push toward deficit reduction.