Morris A. Davis

 

 

Links:

·   Curriculum Vitae

·   Research

·   Foreclosure Relief

·   Senate Testimony

·   Personal stuff:
Hot Money Band & The Contractions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Department of Real Estate and Urban Land Economics

Wisconsin School of Business

Grainger Hall #5261

975 University Avenue

Madison, WI 53706-1323

US Voice and Fax: (+1) 608 262-8775

Email:  mdavis at bus.wisc.edu

 

Current affiliations beyond the Wisconsin School of Business:

 

·         Fellow of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
(click here to see my U.S. land and housing data on the Lincoln Institute Web Site)

 

·         Academic Advisory Council, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

 

·         Board of Directors, American Capital Agency Corporation
(ticker AGNC)

 

 

 

 

 

Research

 

 

Academic Papers on Housing, Macroeconomics, and Asset Pricing

 

Title

With

Last Updated

Latest Version

Additional Material

Reflections on the Foreclosure Crisis

Jun. 2010

Land Lines (publication of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy)

Housing and the Business Cycle
(Palgrave entry)

Mar. 2010

New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics Online

Discussion of “Endogenous Gentrification and Housing Price Dynamics

Feb. 2010

Prepared for the 2010-02 EFG Meetings in San Francisco

Macroeconomic Implications of Agglomeration

Jonas D.M. Fisher and Toni M. Whited

Dec. 2009

Here

Household Expenditures, Wages, Rents

François Ortalo-Magné

Dec. 2009

Review of Economic Dynamics, accepted

·     Data

What Moves Housing Markets:  A Variance Decomposition of the Rent-Price Ratio

Sean D. Campbell, Joshua Gallin, and Robert F. Martin

Jun. 2009

Journal of Urban Economics, 2009, vol. 66 (2), p. 90-102 

·     Data (2007:H2)

·     Old version:  April 2006

Housing, Home Production, and the Equity and Value Premium Puzzles

Robert F. Martin

Apr. 2009

Journal of Housing Economics, 2009, vol. 18 (2), p. 81-91

·     Old versions:  Feb. 2005

The Price and Quantity of Land by Legal Form of Organization in the United States

Dec. 2008

Regional Science and Urban Economics, 2009, vol. 39 (3), p. 350-359

·      Data (2007:Q4)

The Rent-Price Ratio for the Aggregate Stock of Owner-Occupied Housing

Andreas Lehnert and Robert F. Martin

Dec. 2007

Review of Income and Wealth, 2008, vol. 54 (2), p. 279-284

·     Data

·     Articles: The Economist,  Wall Street Journal, Reuters

·     Blogs:  Greg Ip #1, Greg Ip #2, my full response

What’s Really Happening in Housing Markets?

François Ortalo-Magné and Peter Rupert

Jul. 2007

Economic Commentary, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, 2007-07

 

The Price and Quantity of Residential Land in the United States

Jonathan Heathcote

Jun. 2007

Journal of Monetary Economics, 2007, vol. 54 (8), p. 2595-2620

·     Data and Appendix

The Price of Residential Land in Large U.S. Cities

Michael G. Palumbo

Feb. 2007

Journal of Urban Economics, 2008, vol. 63 (1), p. 352-384

·     Data

·     Old version:  June 2006

·     Articles:  Christian Science Monitor, WSJ.com

Housing and the Business Cycle

Jonathan Heathcote

Nov. 2003

International Economic Review, 2005, vol. 46 (3), p. 751-784

·     Data (Oct. 2002)

·     Data Appendix (Oct. 2002, out of date)

A Primer on the Economics and Time Series Econometrics of Wealth Effects

Michael G. Palumbo

Jan. 2001

FEDS working paper, 2001-09

 

.

 

Academic Papers on Health and Labor Economics

 

Title

With

Last Updated

Latest Version

Additional Material

The Insurance, Health, and Savings Decisions of Elderly Women Living Alone

 

Feb. 2006

Here

·      Old version (dissertation):  Aug. 1998

A Stochastic Dynamic Model of the Mental Health of Children

E. Michael Foster

Jan. 2003

International Economic Review, 2005, vol. 46 (3), p. 837-866

·    Old version:  July 1999

 

 

 

 

Foreclosure Relief

 

 

·        UPDATE!  HAMP now helps the unemployed!

(We have been lobbying for this for quite some time)

 

·        My Power Point slides for the State of Nevada Hearings on Foreclosure Relief 03-05-2010 (.ppt file).

 

·        The Wisconsin Foreclosure and Unemployment Relief Plan

(defunct as of March 30, 2010)

 

1. Power Point slides describing the plan 11-17-2009 (.ppt file)

 

2. Calculations: 
- Gross outlays of WI-FUR at current levels of unemployment
- The true cost of WI-FUR to taxpayers, as compared to doing nothing (.xls file)

 

3. Suggested WI-FUR voucher amounts by county (.xls file)

 

4. Briefing to Congressional staff on 12-04-2009 (.ppt file)

 

5. My posting on blog Econbrower

 

6. WI-FUR web site (somewhat dated)

 

7. The “Boston Fed” plan (another plan that will prevent foreclosures of the unemployed)

 

 

·        Various problems with the Administration’s current plan:  HAMP mortgage modifications
(click here to read the Administration’s December 2009 HAMP report)

 

a.      Economics (old)

 

March 26, 2010:  NEW!  HAMP now helps the unemployed.  Read here.

 

The unemployed are unlikely to be eligible to be helped by HAMP. 

 

In a recent Freddie Mac survey, 57% of prime conforming borrowers who made successful contact with their servicers list “Unemployment or Curtailment of Income” as the main hardship reason.  The #2 and #3 reasons were “Excessive Obligation” (19%, again this could be unemployment) and “Illness or Death in the Family” (11%)

The loss of income while unemployed, for most, is too great for the unemployed to be eligible for a modification according to the rules of the HAMP “NPV” test.

Also, in the event that some unemployed do get a modification, the HAMP policy is bad public policy.  A permanent mortgage modification should not be the solution to a temporary disruption of income.

 

b.      Administration Issues

 

Threat of perjury, mail fraud, wire fraud, etc. See page 4! (.pdf file)

 

c.       Credit Score Issues

 

A mortgage modification can cause a 100 point hit (= destructive) to FICO credit scores.  CNN article here.
(Note:  there is some talk that this is a temporary problem).