The Future of the U.S. Housing Finance System

During a critically important moment in the national debate over the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, this event brought together experts from diverse perspectives to discuss how to restructure the U.S. housing finance system. The event featured an address titled “A Pragmatic Plan for Housing Finance Reform” by Mark Zandi, Chief Economist of Moody’s Analytics, and was followed by a panel of experts who include: Joseph Tracy, Executive Vice President and Senior Advisor to the President, Federal Reserve Bank of New York; Janneke Ratcliffe, Executive Director for the UNC Center for Community Capital at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and Barry Zigas, Director of Housing Policy, Consumer Federation of America. The panel, which will examine alternative reform proposals, will be moderated by Susan Wachter, Professor of Real Estate and Finance, The Wharton School and Co-Director, Penn IUR. The event was co-sponsored by the Penn Institute for Urban Research and Wharton Public Policy Initiative and made possible with support from the Ford Foundation.