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Susan Wachter on Securitizations and Deregulation

June 16, 2008 / 29:04

This episode features Wharton real estate Professor Susan Wachter discussing the subprime mortgage crisis, its causes, and potential solutions. Key topics include the role of securitization, adjustable-rate mortgages, and the impact of deregulation.

Professor Wachter explains that multiple factors contributed to the crisis, including securitization, deregulation, and the erosion of lending standards. She emphasizes that the rise of adjustable-rate mortgages and the competition among lenders led to riskier lending practices.

Wachter highlights the importance of understanding the dynamics of the housing market and the role of the Federal Reserve in managing interest rates. She discusses the unprecedented nationwide decline in housing prices and the implications for borrowers and lenders.

The conversation also addresses potential remedies for those affected by the crisis, including the need for regulatory changes and the importance of maintaining market discipline to prevent future crises.

Overall, the episode provides a comprehensive overview of the subprime crisis, its underlying causes, and the challenges ahead for the housing market and the economy.

TL;DR

Professor Susan Wachter discusses the causes and impacts of the subprime mortgage crisis, emphasizing deregulation and risky lending practices.

Episode

29:04
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visit executive education. won.
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[Music]
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although the subprime crisis seems to be
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showing some signs of easing debate over
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what caused it whether it could have
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been prevented and how long it might
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last will continue for some time to come
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knowledge at Wharton asked Wharton real
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estate Professor Susan Walter for her
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perspective on the latest economic
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developments welcome Professor wer
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pleasure to be here blame for the
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subprime crisis has been attributed to
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all sorts of things uh the uh rise of
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securitization in recent years the use
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of adjustable rate loans uh low interest
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rate policy by the federal Federal
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Reserve and greed of homeowners uh greed
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on Wall Street uh with an aim to
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short-term profits or Regulators of
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their heads in the sand which of these
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factors have been most important in your
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view well guilty as charged all of the
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above were part they all contributed it
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would not have happened but for
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securitization it would not have
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happened but for deregulation and
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deregulation securitization came
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together uh don't know um about the
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greed there certainly are investors out
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there who respect calculating but a
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large part of it is the prices rising
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affordability crisis and pushing on the
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part of both borrowers and lenders for
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more affordable products which were also
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over time standards eroded let more
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people into Home Ownership let more
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people refinance but the standards
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eroded over time now why was that that
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the this is what we call partly it's the
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underwriting question that the lenders
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were simply willing to lend to people uh
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that they had less likelihood of getting
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paid from than they were before what led
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them to do that well I want to be clear
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too there are two ways that Sanders
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wrote over time one the underwriting
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standards literally uh stated income
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came into play in 2006 where people
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could basically say what their income
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was on many of these loans and that's
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underwriting eroding over time but also
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the standards itself the ltvs loan to
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values consolidated loan to values went
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up with piggyback loans so the lending
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standards that existed became more
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liberally offered so in econom call The
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Supply function shifted there was more
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Supply now you ask me why yes why well
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it's a it's an interesting question
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that's going to be a question for
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economic historians to ask and answer
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but in models that my colleague Andre
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POF and I work it's a natural
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competitive moving for market share you
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compete not just on price but you
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compete on uh on Market you compete for
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market share by competing with your
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fellow lenders by undercutting them and
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you can undercut them on rate you can
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undercut them on standards to increase
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market share especially so if the ones
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who originate in making the loans don't
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have any exposure to the risk on the
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other side now there also is a change in
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the the kinds of companies institutions
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that were making uh mortgage loans and
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back in the days when we think of it all
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as being Freddy Mack and Fanny May uh
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there there were certain standards that
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some of these newer firms didn't have to
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abide by is that correct absolutely
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correct and the firms whose gaining in
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market share were not as exposed to risk
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so that's part of the uh story of how
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this happened uh Fanny and Freddy's
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market share fha's market share
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particularly Federal housing
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Administration government insured
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dramatically declined as subprime
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increased and we saw that starting in
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2002 through uh the end of 2006 so Fanny
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and Freddy were simply not able to make
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the kinds of loans that some of these
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other firms started to make Fanny and
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Freddy and I want to also include FHA
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because there was really a one for one
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uh Fanny and Freddy and FHA were not
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able to make these loans because they by
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law needed to invest in quot unquote
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investment grade which excluded subprime
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now why were these other types of firms
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able to get into the market at this
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point rather than 15 years ago or 30
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years ago or some other time this is uh
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private label securitization which did
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not exist 15 or 20 years ago uh what
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exists did was securitization which was
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Fanny Freddy and jumbo securitization
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jumbo securitization are loans that are
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investment grade Prime but over the
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conforming loan limit 417,000 until
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recently so those were the markets that
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was it uh and that's all that there
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could be because there was really no way
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of evaluating risk charging borrowers
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for different risk so with risk-based
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pricing came the incentive to lend to
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riskier borrowers and to charge them
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perhaps more for the loan and was this
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technical advances or research on this
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is risk are and that sort of thing what
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were the elements that went into that uh
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automated underwriting was first de
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developed by Freddy Mac in the mid1
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1990s and that means computerized
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basically right correct for the risk of
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the borrower using credit card FICO
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score type of information that used to
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be used in consumer credit that Mig ated
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over to mortgage market and the purpose
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of the automated underwriting is to give
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the lender an idea of the the the
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prospects that a particular borrow is
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likely to default on the loan based on
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past history patterns of other other
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people in that cat their characteristics
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and I take it that one of the problems
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with the uh in the subprime situation is
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that now you're dealing with a group of
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borrowers for and a group of products
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for which the track record is not as
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extensive is that is that right that's a
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it's a it's a too simplified that's
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really too simplified well let's hear
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the complicated first okay the um uh
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automated underwriting is quite
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successful at uh predicting based on the
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risk of the borrower there's another
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component which is the value of the home
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so in any more any incentive to default
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on a mortgage or eventually foreclosing
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bare losses uh th that series of events
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happens because of the borrower risk
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their willingness to pay Etc which is uh
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predicted by credit score but in
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addition very key the most key factor
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for foreclosure prediction is loan to
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value so if values deteriorate and if
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loans exceed values then it's very
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difficult to sell the home therefore
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foreclosure is almost inevitable that's
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where we are today and the models the
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automated underwriting were really not
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developed to predict what values would
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be under extreme circumstances yeah
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let's look at that how extreme they
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really were when when you look back at
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the period that many of these loans were
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being written earlier mid part of this
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decade interest rates were
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extraordinarily low unusually low at
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that time and and what happened
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afterward that seemed to have been the
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trigger event uh for many of these
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defaults and then
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foreclosures appears to be that interest
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rates simply Rose to normal levels uh
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the FED funds rate went went from one to
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I think five and a quarter uh something
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like that was that really so
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unpredictable that rates would go back
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to the normal range uh from an
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abnormally low range yes it's it it
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first of all you can't predict rates but
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certainly the rates as they were in 2006
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were not historically high in fact
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they're historically in a moderate range
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so it's not as simple again to say it
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was the rate rise that occurred in 2006
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nor is it simple to say that it was the
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rate decline in 2001 2 and three which
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set us up those I think contributed they
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were contributory factors but they
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weren't sufficient to explain the sharp
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debacle that we're in now because rates
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certainly haven't gone back to levels we
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saw you know 20 years ago or 30 years
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ago when there were double digit rates
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for many many mortgages correct and at
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that point obviously we didn't have
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anything like we have today we did not
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have this kind of Crisis now the second
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element of this was the uh the falling
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of home prices which as you said left
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lots of people underwater they can't
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sell or they may feel inclined not to
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not to just to walk away as people say
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now the the falling of home prices again
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uh many people tend to think of their
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homes as as as the perfect investment
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that always rises in value but there
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have been periods when they have uh
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retrenched and it doesn't seem again
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from the professionals point of view all
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that surprising that home prices would
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uh level off and perhaps drop after the
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extraordinary gains uh from the '90s
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into the early part of this decade this
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is the first time in US history since
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the Great Depression that we've had a
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national decline in home prices so it is
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exceptional and part of the story of the
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extraordinary collapse of 2007 and
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current 2008 continuing is the 2006
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explosion of credit so that on one hand
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we did have rates go up in 2006 on the
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other hand standards eroded dramatically
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in 2006 and it's the 2006 book of
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business that is under most stress
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that's where the foreclosures are coming
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from as of now so why are we seeing this
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this sort of unprecedented Nationwide
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decline in housing prices so it's not
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local markets it's not unemployment it's
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not simply expectations reversing it's
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not the local Factory shutting down or
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something that indeed has been what
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previous housing price recessions have
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been attributed to there there is a um
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for there is a factor there's a critical
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factor that all of this misses and it's
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not interest rates either what it is is
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that the standards the roading
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especially in 2006 when there was a
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dramatic decline in standards was
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unsustainable and that retrenched we had
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a sharp reversal starting in 2006 of
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these
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unsustainable standards which were
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artificially inflating housing prices so
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over this period standards eroded
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artificially inflating housing prices
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housing prices increases and even levels
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could only be sustained with this
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unsustainable overly liberalized credit
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being manufactured which directly caused
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the price rise of 2006 and basically
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that boils down to you you make money so
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easily available that people have more
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to spend and they bid up prices is that
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absolutely it's a credit induced bubble
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people are able and willing to pay more
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when you have zero Z down payment
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negatively advertised they can get into
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the home and the bet is not on them the
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bet is on someone else what's going to
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happen in the future so it's an
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affordability and it also is uh simply
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these are loans without money going into
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in some cases that's the investor side
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of the story now uh there's also been
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there was during this period an increase
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in the use of adjustable rate mortgages
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and this has been one of the problems
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for borrowers who now are facing re sets
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the interest rates have gone up and
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that's causing their monthly payments to
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rise to points where they can't pay it
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or don't want to pay it uh what caused
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or first is it correct that the use of
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adjustable rate mortgages increased uh
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and what caused that not just adjustable
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rate mortgages more to the point teaser
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rate adjustable rate mortgages in option
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arms all of these latter are negatively
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advertising instruments that is you get
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into the loan and then you borrow more
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money over time so that drives loan to
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Value ratio up which again is going to
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be the key to the next part of the story
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which is now what do we do our loan is
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worth more than the home maybe we
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walk and there's lots of research that
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says that people who don't have skin in
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the game as they say that is equity in
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the house are more likely to walk away
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from it than people who do absolutely
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that is a key constent in all of our
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research foreclosure loan is driven by
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high loan to value upside down LTV is
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greater than one and one of the factors
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uh here is that uh lenders stopped
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requiring the this the kind of down
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payments that many people were
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accustomed to years ago 10% or 20% of
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the sales price why did they stop
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demanding those well in part it was
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ability to expand the market this
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natural competition if one guy is doing
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it the other guy is doing it that's how
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you get market share and it's not simply
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the LTV of one lender these are
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consolidated loan to value ratios so
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they were allowing piggybacks to come on
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uh which were very popular to allow
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people to afford their home and good
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business good
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fees now there's lots of debate about
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what to do now uh now that this has
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happened and it seems to me there are
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two broad areas which are what to do
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about the people uh the borrowers and
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the lenders who are in trouble right now
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and then what to do to prevent a
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recurrence of this kind of thing in the
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future so let's break it down what what
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do you think should be done uh for the
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borrowers who are finding themselves
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underwater today this is this has been a
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big issue in Washington recently yeah on
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the one hand there's moral hazard
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involved there's the story of rescuing
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people who make bad decisions only
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supports bad decisions going forward and
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there are bad decisions not only but
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borrowers but by the underwriting
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agencies Etc and by investors so let's
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let everyone take their medicine and
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educate and go forward learn by doing
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and there is an argument for that unless
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it actually leads to a serious recession
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which is a Desta one where in fact we
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have a free fall in prices which feeds
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back to the overall economy we don't
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know that that's going to happen but we
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don't know that it's not going to happen
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so there there it's one thing to say uh
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this is a homeowner who took a chance
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and it didn't work out and that's their
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tough luck it's another thing to say to
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that person's Nextdoor neighbors uh it's
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too bad that your home prices are
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falling because there's a glut of houses
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on the market uh in your neighborhood
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due to this that's it's really what
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we're concerned about is the collateral
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damage the rest of us uh uh suffering in
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some ways that is economy and what's the
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medicine what's the response to that uh
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the FED is out of quivers at that point
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so preventing that kind of free fall on
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housing prices has to be out there we
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have to have some tool to do that even
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if we don't implement it immediately
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because in fact the need for it depends
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on the severity of the slow down or
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recession that we may be in and what do
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you think is the tool for for dealing
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with that well uh the concept has been
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supported by the fetch chair banki uh
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it's there's a bipartisan leg
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legislation on the hill uh that has the
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FHA coming in putting a floor on the
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market uh there's something to be said
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for that kind of response where the
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lenders take a haircut the investors
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take a haircut but they do it and then
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in return for uh the federal government
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then taking the risk of further price
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declines which hopefully then will be
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slowed down so you'd make both parties
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suffer enough that they wouldn't want to
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do it again and at the same time limit
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their losses to the point where their
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their their disaster doesn't spill over
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and affect everyone else floor to for
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security for all of us now how do we
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distinguish between the borrower who is
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uh just an ordinary homeowner with a
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primary residence who either made a
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mistake or was duped into a mortgage
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that wasn't a good idea and somebody who
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is a Speculator or somebody who was
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buying more house than they really could
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afford well that's a simple one I there
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are uh owner occupants versus investors
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and have to go down that line and again
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uh talking about the institutions the
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the the ones that lent money
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um how big a haircut do they need to
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take to discourage this kind of thing in
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the future well that of course is going
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to be question but there are already uh
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firms out there that are pricing there
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is some sign it looks like right now
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there's some trades at about a 20 30%
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haircut now this is dealing with the
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current crisis but but looking down the
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road I think most people would uh would
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like to not see this kind of volatility
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in these markets in the future are there
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things that can be done to tweak the way
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the mortgage markets work and the
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Securities markets work to prevent the
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the the kind of excesses that led to
00:16:41
this tweaks is a small word there are
00:16:43
going to have to be major changes to the
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way securitization works this exposes
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the kiles heill of securitization which
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it which is that leads to a pro-
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cyclical impact of housing on the
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overall economy housing brings down the
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overall econ economy and then the
00:16:59
overall economy interfaces with housing
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and then we're in a free fall we need to
00:17:04
have a response I think it's early in
00:17:06
the game certainly early in the game to
00:17:08
put on major changes in in in uh
00:17:11
regulatory responses because right now
00:17:13
we have to be very concerned about
00:17:14
liquidity that's the number one issue in
00:17:17
the subprime market we have to be very
00:17:19
concerned about liquidity in the overall
00:17:21
mortgage Market major looking down the
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line we are going to have to question
00:17:27
the underlying basis for where we are
00:17:29
here today which is risk-based price
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securitization that's what's new this
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time and can you explain that what's new
00:17:38
this time is unlike the securitization
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of the past the securitization is
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tranching of risk in very complicated
00:17:46
cdos Clos SS instruments which do not
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trade so we have neither Market
00:17:53
discipline because we don't although the
00:17:56
the price of the loan may be vary by
00:17:58
risk may as I say the price of the
00:18:01
mortgage instrument did not in the
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securitization uh of the mortgage
00:18:06
instrument these Securities did not
00:18:09
trade therefore there wasn't a market
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discipline to price the risk and give
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the signal of these were extraordinarily
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risky instruments they were marked to
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model not to Market lots of fees UPF
00:18:24
front across the board but the ultimate
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risk was known because in fact they
00:18:30
weren't priced to the risk uh in some
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sense you know it's a it's a disaster
00:18:35
when we have potentially uh the
00:18:37
Foreclosure rate that we have of 2 3%
00:18:40
could bring down the economy with if
00:18:42
there's a recession that's serious um
00:18:45
but on the other hand uh if this is
00:18:48
priced if the rate of return on the
00:18:52
instruments that Wall Street pays is
00:18:55
high at least we're sending the right
00:18:56
signal that did not happen
00:18:59
in our research what we've seen is the
00:19:01
standards eroded but the rate did not go
00:19:04
up so this is a failure of pricing not
00:19:07
surprising because these instruments did
00:19:09
not trade well if they don't trade and
00:19:11
you don't have examples of recent sales
00:19:14
to look at to set values how will you
00:19:16
set values I mean they tried to use
00:19:18
models and that clearly doesn't work
00:19:20
these are theoretical basis clearly for
00:19:22
for setting value what's the alternative
00:19:25
well uh if we are going to have
00:19:27
securitization there's going to have to
00:19:28
be securitization with trading or with
00:19:32
some indicator that these are
00:19:34
extraordinarily risky Securities because
00:19:36
they don't trade some kind of red flag
00:19:38
and there's discussion SEC is moving
00:19:40
along these lines that's one answer the
00:19:43
other answer is and these are not either
00:19:45
or the other answer is we've been in a
00:19:48
extreme deregulated environment where
00:19:51
basically anything goes and in that
00:19:53
environment even the competitors can
00:19:56
race to the bottom so they may be some
00:19:59
need for the return of credential
00:20:03
regulation especially if it's the banks
00:20:06
themselves who are engaging in this race
00:20:09
to the bottom competition because then
00:20:12
all of us are exposed to demand deposit
00:20:14
insurance now in order to encourage uh
00:20:17
trading would you have to have some form
00:20:19
of standardization so that uh people
00:20:21
would have a fairly good understanding
00:20:23
of what this instrument is I gather that
00:20:26
in this recent event many were sort of
00:20:27
custom made and each one in some
00:20:30
respects unique to all the others which
00:20:32
of course music can't trade liquidity ET
00:20:35
so how would you standard
00:20:36
standardization there's no trading so
00:20:39
that's an open question there are ways
00:20:41
and um we're just beginning to think
00:20:44
about how that would actually come about
00:20:47
it could be totally Market based
00:20:49
incentives for standardization SEC might
00:20:51
have to have a role but as you say
00:20:53
without standardization there is no
00:20:55
liquidity there is no trading and
00:20:58
another proposal that's been floating
00:21:00
around is to make sure that the
00:21:03
participants in these markets all keep
00:21:05
skin in the game as they say that is
00:21:08
that instead of packaging up bundling up
00:21:10
one of these Securities then sending it
00:21:12
on its way into the market and
00:21:14
forgetting about it uh the creators uh
00:21:17
would would have to maintain some sort
00:21:19
of position or some sort of guarantee so
00:21:22
that if things went wrong uh they would
00:21:25
pay a price uh and that would give them
00:21:27
an incentive to produce things of a
00:21:28
higher quality does something along
00:21:30
those lines make sense it does uh the
00:21:32
basic um research that my colleague
00:21:35
Andre pavlof and I have done which in
00:21:37
fact helped explain the Asian banking
00:21:39
crisis uh points to the incentive to
00:21:43
produce fees short-run produce fees and
00:21:45
if there's nothing on the other side
00:21:47
about what the consequences these fee
00:21:49
driven returns then you are going to
00:21:51
have a race to the bottom it is under
00:21:54
certain circumstances inevitable so this
00:21:56
is not the first time that we've had a
00:21:57
real State and Bank crisis that occurs
00:22:00
together in fact throughout history we
00:22:02
just look at Asia look at Japan over the
00:22:04
last 20 years so yes skin in the game so
00:22:07
that its decisions are not just
00:22:09
short-term fee driven is absolutely
00:22:11
critical uh in every step of the
00:22:15
way uh looking at the the other uh part
00:22:19
of the equation which is the the home
00:22:20
buyer who people will continue to want
00:22:23
to get mortgages and uh you get the
00:22:26
impression that many people are still
00:22:27
going to want to use adjustable rate
00:22:29
mortgages uh for some types of borrowers
00:22:31
they may be a better choice than the
00:22:33
classic 30-year fixed rate mortgage do
00:22:35
you agree with that they should still be
00:22:37
part of the market there nothing wrong
00:22:38
with adjustable rate mortgages we've had
00:22:40
adjustable rate mortgages for tens of
00:22:42
years and in the rest of the world they
00:22:43
are the most common they are the
00:22:45
standard mortgage it's not just where
00:22:47
mortgages that a problem the problem are
00:22:49
negatively advertising teaser rate
00:22:52
option arms which are predictably
00:22:55
subjecting borrowers to payment shock at
00:22:58
the same time that they're predictably
00:23:00
artificially uh boosting the market so
00:23:02
that the other side market prices will
00:23:04
fall recipe for exactly where we are now
00:23:07
uh when people take out adjustable rate
00:23:10
mortgages uh one of the appeals is that
00:23:12
with the teaser rate uh you qualify for
00:23:14
the loan uh based on the low rate that
00:23:17
with a with a smaller payment that will
00:23:19
fit a more modest income um but there's
00:23:22
been some talk of uh having to look more
00:23:26
deeply into the borrower future or
00:23:28
estimate what it's going to be and see
00:23:30
what will be the borrower's ability to
00:23:32
pay a higher payment if interest rates
00:23:35
cause a reset that's much higher is
00:23:37
there some way to do that well it's
00:23:39
certainly very reasonable it's in the
00:23:40
FED proposed rules that indeed you
00:23:43
underwrite to the rate that the teaser
00:23:46
rate adjusts to which of course it would
00:23:49
have avoided a lot of the damage that we
00:23:51
have the other issue of adjustable rate
00:23:53
mortgage is no you can't have an
00:23:56
adjustable rate mortgage which under
00:23:58
writes to any interest rate but adjusted
00:24:00
rate mortgages as I said before are not
00:24:02
the cause of the problem that we're
00:24:03
currently in they're well vetted
00:24:05
instrument we can have them we can have
00:24:07
adjustable rate mortgages we can have
00:24:08
fix rate mortgages what we can't have is
00:24:11
an explosion of credit that induces
00:24:13
price Rises artificially and then
00:24:15
induces the pullback um two things which
00:24:18
you didn't ask me about what I want to
00:24:20
quickly address is one um early on you
00:24:24
said well what caused this one of the
00:24:25
causes was default rates did not rise
00:24:29
immediately and of course they don't
00:24:31
rise as long as values are driven up but
00:24:33
as long as credit standards erode as
00:24:36
long as more credits pushed out there
00:24:38
that's unsustainable prices will
00:24:40
increase so the signal to pull back is
00:24:43
not in the default so if you're looking
00:24:44
for it there you're not going to find it
00:24:46
so you need to have Market discipline
00:24:49
which is lo looking to the long term and
00:24:52
car and able to identify this artificial
00:24:56
credit induced bubble and price it
00:24:59
that's one way out the other way out is
00:25:02
a credential way out which is if the
00:25:04
banking sector is part of this boom
00:25:07
artificial boom and by the way it was
00:25:10
tangential this time around in the US
00:25:12
but it isn't in the rest of the world
00:25:14
we've seen these kinds of booms and bust
00:25:17
brought down Japan for 20 years which
00:25:19
came from the banking sector so in this
00:25:22
case there has to be Prudential
00:25:24
supervision of the banks themselves
00:25:26
because Banks them too can engage in
00:25:30
feed driven race to the bottom even if
00:25:32
they have skin in the game it happens
00:25:35
and there's no reason why it wouldn't
00:25:36
happen I want to make sure we understand
00:25:38
what credential means in this context
00:25:40
you mean can you explain that a little
00:25:42
further thinking further down further
00:25:45
down long and that of course is what The
00:25:47
Regulators must do if on the one hand
00:25:49
they're also giving out demand deposit
00:25:51
insurance which basically takes out a
00:25:54
big part of the providers of the fund to
00:25:58
the banks from making these decisions
00:26:00
someone has to have the long run
00:26:03
concerns demand depositors are neither
00:26:05
in place nor do they have the incentive
00:26:07
with insurance to do so uh finally uh
00:26:10
what is your general assessment of the
00:26:12
way the Federal Reserve has handled this
00:26:14
so far uh banki is really pulled this
00:26:17
off he's it's really incredible
00:26:19
nonetheless even he is quite concerned
00:26:21
with going forward there may need to be
00:26:24
more that happens and it's out of his
00:26:26
hands at this point and looking at the
00:26:28
things they've done it's a whole range
00:26:30
of things from opening the discount
00:26:31
window to to uh uh lending out
00:26:35
treasuries and taking mortgage
00:26:37
Securities in in as collateral uh to
00:26:40
helping out with the bar Stern situation
00:26:42
which of these do you think have been
00:26:43
the most
00:26:44
useful well we've been so exposed uh not
00:26:48
just us but worldwide to potentially
00:26:50
worldwide
00:26:52
crash that there are two of these that
00:26:55
are absolutely critical one was when is
00:26:57
the decline in short-term rates The
00:27:00
increased liquidity which is not just
00:27:01
the FED but worldwide which keeps arms
00:27:05
low lowered short-term rates which allow
00:27:07
these teaser rates to adjust to a lower
00:27:08
rate than they otherwise would adjust to
00:27:11
secondly equally important is the
00:27:13
historic Bear Sterns Intervention which
00:27:16
is going to be very controversial
00:27:18
historically and brings on its own
00:27:20
questions going forward of now we have a
00:27:23
whole other part of the financial system
00:27:26
that is going to be rescued to some
00:27:29
degree and therefore there's a more
00:27:32
obviously increased moral hazard there
00:27:33
as well a very controversial decision
00:27:37
and and and have you got a conclusion of
00:27:39
your own about that well my at the at
00:27:41
the time and I think without that we
00:27:44
would have had a bank run in the
00:27:45
non-financial sector no doubt about it
00:27:49
and it does seem that uh although people
00:27:51
have called it a bailout or a rescue
00:27:53
there certainly was a lot of suffering
00:27:55
on the part of baris's employees and
00:27:57
Sheriff shareholders and Executives the
00:27:59
shareholders the shareholders were
00:28:01
indeed disciplined and I'm sure that was
00:28:04
part of the planning of the event let me
00:28:06
just finish by asking uh do you think
00:28:08
we're closer to the end of this whole uh
00:28:10
process or still still in the
00:28:14
beginning we're not in the beginning uh
00:28:16
we're not at the end what really there's
00:28:20
really this critical middle piece of how
00:28:22
does the overall economy perform and how
00:28:26
does that subvert
00:28:27
the potential recovery in the housing
00:28:30
market or in fact uh cause the housing
00:28:33
market to further unravel and that's
00:28:36
really we need that there's no answer we
00:28:39
don't know that's uncertainty what
00:28:41
simply going to play out in the next
00:28:42
three to six months so this really is
00:28:44
very much uh not just a routine crisis
00:28:47
or cycle but a kind of Uncharted
00:28:49
Territory for the next six months we are
00:28:51
in Uncharted Territory we simply don't
00:28:54
know how far the econom is going to fall
00:28:56
if it's going to fall and how that's
00:28:58
going to interact interact with falling
00:29:00
home prices well we'll be watching thank
00:29:02
you very much pleasure

Episode Highlights

  • The Subprime Crisis Explained
    Professor Susan Walter discusses the multifaceted causes of the subprime crisis, including deregulation and securitization.
    “Guilty as charged, all of the above were part.”
    @ 01m 11s
    June 16, 2008
  • Unprecedented Housing Price Decline
    The discussion reveals that the current decline in home prices is historically significant, marking a first since the Great Depression.
    “This is the first time in US history since the Great Depression that we’ve had a national decline in home prices.”
    @ 09m 06s
    June 16, 2008
  • Skin in the Game
    Ensuring market participants maintain a stake in their products is crucial for quality.
    “Skin in the game is absolutely critical in every step of the way.”
    @ 22m 07s
    June 16, 2008
  • Uncharted Territory Ahead
    The economy is in a critical middle phase, uncertain about its future.
    “We simply don't know how far the economy is going to fall.”
    @ 28m 49s
    June 16, 2008

Episode Quotes

  • It’s a credit induced bubble.
    Susan Wachter on Securitizations and Deregulation
  • We're not in the beginning, we're not at the end.
    Susan Wachter on Securitizations and Deregulation
  • This is not just a routine crisis, but Uncharted Territory.
    Susan Wachter on Securitizations and Deregulation

Key Moments

  • Credit Induced Bubble10:55
  • Need for Regulation20:09
  • Standardization Challenges20:36
  • Adjustable Rate Mortgages22:37
  • Market Discipline24:49
  • Historic Bear Stearns Intervention27:13
  • Critical Middle Phase28:20
  • Uncertainty Ahead28:41

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

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