Borrowing to Live: Consumer and Mortgage Credit Revisited

摘要: Americans are awash in debt, and the U.S. economy is trouble. Credit undergirds daily life more than ever --it has become one of defining aspects American life, ramifications becoming clearer by day. The already considerable damage from a depressed housing market been exacerbated subprime lender implosion, sending shock waves through financial sector, international economies, government at all levels. Most low- or moderate-income people borrow, but that should not be construed as uniformly poor judgment lack disciplines --Americans borrowing merely to keep up with Joneses, too often simply stay afloat. In Borrowing Live , Joint Center for Housing Studies Harvard University brings together group experts drawn best academia, research, public services. Together editors Nicolas Retsinas Eric Belsky, they dissect worrisome current state consumer mortgage credit United States help point way out struggles. Contributors: Michael S. Barr, Raphael W. Bostic, Shawn Cole, Amy Crews Cutts, Kathleen C. Engel, Ren Essene, Elaine Kempson, Patricia A. McCoy, William Merrill, Sendhil Mullainathan, Anthony Pennington-Cross, Elizabeth Renuart, Eldar Shafir, Edna R. Sawady, Jennifer Tescher, John Thompson, Peter Tufano, Susan M. Wachter