Amir Sufi presents House of Debt

Please join Equitable Growth for a presentation by Amir Sufi on the findings in his new book, House of Debt: How They (And You) Caused the Great Recession, and How We Can Prevent It from Happening Again.

Sufi and his co-author, Atif Mian, argue that the Great Recession was the result of a sharp fall-off in consumption due to the unequal distribution of household debt run up in the first six years of the 21st century. In that period, mortgage credit growth grew more than twice as fast in neighborhoods with low credit scores than the growth of mortgage credit in neighborhoods with high credit scores, in a clear contrast to previous decades. When the housing bubble burst, the economic consequences were amplified by the way debt was distributed across households and communities.

Combining real world examples and strong economic evidence, Mian and Sufi argue that the run-up in household debt they found to cause economic catastrophes is a preventable occurrence. They conclude by further arguing that governments must implement smarter financial systems before crises strike, move away from a reliance on debt, and share risk more broadly if we are to prevent such crises in the future and cultivate sustained economic growth.

Copies of House of Debt will be available for purchase at the event.

Featured author:
Amir Sufi, co-author, House of Debt and Associate Professor of Finance, University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Discussants:
Michael Barr, professor of law, University of Michigan Law School; former Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions, U.S. Treasury Department

Atif Mian, co-author of House of Debt; Professor of Economics and Public Policy, Department of Economics, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University

Moderated by:
Heather Boushey, Executive Director and Chief Economist, Washington Center for Equitable Growth

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Light refreshments will be served.