The Milken Institute has chosen today to launch three big studies on subprime
mortgages, which certainly makes it timely. In the first one, we’re told that
mortgages do help increase homeownership. (Whether
that’s a good thing or
not is of course a different question.) In the second, the
catch-all term "subprime" is examined in the context of 29 different
mortgage products and found to be not particularly illuminating. The third paper
at hybrid loans, concluding that they "will indeed worsen the foreclosure
problem, but they are not the cause of it."
Also worth reading: Nouriel
Roubini, Tanta,
Warren, Barry
Ritholtz, and the news that S&P thinks the
mortgage freeze may cause downgrades.