I testified before the Senate Banking Committee on October 20, 2011.   The topic was “Housing Finance Reform: Continuation of the 30-year Fixed-rate Mortgage.”

According to The Boston Globe, I'm one of the 30 most innovative people in Massachusetts.   Why?  Good question.  Here's what the Globe wrote.

Research

Chris Foote, Kris Gerardi and I have started a Real Estate Research Blog at the Atlanta Fed Website.  Check it out at: http://realestateresearch.frbatlanta.org/

Recent Papers    

1. NEW!! “Why Did So Many People Make So Many Ex Post Bad Decisions? The Causes of the Foreclosure Crisis”  with Christopher L. Foote and Kristopher S. Gerardi.FRB Boston Public Policy Discussion Paper Series, paper no. 12-2, (2012).
2. Do Borrower Rights Improve Borrower Outcomes? Evidence from the Foreclosure Process with Kris Gerardi and Lauren Lambie-Hanson. FRB Boston Public Policy Discussion Paper Series, paper no. 11-9, (2011).
3. A Profile of the Mortgage Crisis in a Low-and-Moderate-Income Community, with Lynn Fisher and Lauren Lambie-Hanson. FRB Boston Public Policy Discussion Paper Series, paper no. 10-6, (2010).
4. Reasonable People Did Disagree: Optimism and Pessimism About the U.S. Housing Market Before the Crash, with Kristopher S. Gerardi and Christopher L. Foote. FRB Boston Public Policy Discussion Paper Series, paper no. 10-5, (2010).
5. 1.25 Trillion is Still Real Money: Some Facts About the Effects of the Federal Reserve’s Mortgage Market Investments with Andreas Fuster.
6. How Effective Were the Federal Reserve Emergency Liquidity Facilities? Evidence from the Asset-Backed Commercial Paper Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility” joint with Burcu Duygan-Bump, Patrick M. Parkinson, Eric S. Rosengren, Gustavo A. Suarez, and Paul S. Willen, FRB Boston QAU Series, paper no. QAU10-3 (2010)

Selected Recent Presentations  If you want to use the material from these slides in a paper or presentation, feel free to do so.  All I ask is that you do attribute them to me or to the Boston Fed.

1. Discussion of ``Investment Dynamics with Natural Expectations" by Fuster, Hebert and Laibson Ben Friedman Conference, Boston Fed, April 23, 2011.
2. Loan modifications and foreclosure prevention FDIC/FRS Mortgage Symposium, Washington, DC October 25, 2010.  Read about the presentation in The New York Times and view an action photo.
   
3. Some facts about the mortgage crisis, The Ohio State University Finance Department, October 15, 2010.
4. No one really knows anything about asset prices, Americatalyst Conference, Austin TX, September 14, 2010
5. Discussion of "Mortgage Modification and Strategic Default: Evidence from a Legal Settlement with Countrywide" by Mayer, Morrison, Piskorski and Gupta, NBER Summer Institute, Household Finance Workshop, July 22, 2010
6. Is This Time Different? Negative equity and strategic default in two crises, AREUEA Meetings, Washington, DC, June 3, 2010.
   
7. Discussion of “Can Easy Credit Explain The Housing Boom?” by Glaeser, Gottlieb and Gyourko (2010), AREUEA Meetings, Washington, DC, June 4, 2010.
8. On the origins of the crisis, NEPPC/Rappoport Center Symposium, May 5, 2010
   
9. Is there a ``rational" explanation for the mortgage crisis?, Harvard Behavioral Seminar, April 13, 2010.
   
10. Brookings Institution,, Washington, DC, November 19, 2009.
    

For more presentations, go here.For more papers, go here.


Other Stuff

Testimony to the TARP Congressional Oversight Panel (COP), Philadelphia, PA. September 25, 2009.

Testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, July 16, 2009.

A Proposal to Help Distressed Homeowners: A Government Payment‐Sharing Plan by Chris Foote (Boston Fed), Jeff Fuhrer (Boston Fed), Eileen Mauskopf (Board of Governors) and Paul Willen (Boston Fed)

Biographical information

Paul S. Willen
Senior Economist and Policy Advisor
Research Department
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
T: 617-973-3149
Paul.Willen@bos.frb.org

Positions

1. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
1. Senior Economist and Policy Advisor, 2007-
2. Senior Economist, 2004-2006
2. MIT: Visiting Associate Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, Fall 2006, 2007, 2008.
3. National Bureau of Economic Research: Faculty Research Fellow, 2004-
4. University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business: Assistant Professor, 2000-2004.
5. Princeton University, Department of Economics: Assistant Professor, 1997-2000.