Housing Markets and Living Standards in Economic History
Tenaya Lodge, Yosemite National Park
March 24-25, 2017
March 24-25, 2017
Organized by Rowena Gray (UC Merced) and Alan Taylor (UC Davis).
Interest in historical housing markets has increased in recent years, for both macro- and micro-economists. On the macro side, the role of housing finance and price bubbles in contributing to economic downturns has received fresh attention, with the comparisons between the Great Depression and recent Great Recession eras featuring prominently. On the micro side, economic historians have uncovered new evidence on rental and sales prices of housing, which have breathed new life into cost of living indices that previously ignored, or measured poorly, this key component of the consumption basket. New research moves beyond this to analyze questions pertinent to urban economics using the laboratory of history where the complications of regulation are often muted.
Interest in historical housing markets has increased in recent years, for both macro- and micro-economists. On the macro side, the role of housing finance and price bubbles in contributing to economic downturns has received fresh attention, with the comparisons between the Great Depression and recent Great Recession eras featuring prominently. On the micro side, economic historians have uncovered new evidence on rental and sales prices of housing, which have breathed new life into cost of living indices that previously ignored, or measured poorly, this key component of the consumption basket. New research moves beyond this to analyze questions pertinent to urban economics using the laboratory of history where the complications of regulation are often muted.
Program
Friday, March 24th
1:30 PM “Heterogeneity in disease resistance and the impact of antibiotics in the US”
Justin Cook, UC Merced
2:15 PM “The Paradox of the Joneses: Superstar Houses and Mortgage Frenzy in Suburban America”
Clement Bellet, London School of Economics
3:00 PM BREAK
3:30 PM “Before the American Dream: The Early Years of Urban Home Ownership, The United States, 1850-1940”
Richard Sutch
4:15 PM “Mortgage Contract Choice Before the Great Depression”
Jonathan Rose, Federal Reserve Board
5:00 PM Check-in
7:00 PM DINNER
Saturday, March 25th
7:30 AM BREAKFAST
8:30AM-12:00PM FREE TIME (Resort/Yosemite activities)
12:00 PM LUNCH
1:30 PM “World War II, the Cold War, and the Knowledge Economies of the Pacific Coast”
Gavin Wright, Stanford University
2:15 PM “The Influence of World War II Income and Saving on the Racial Wealth Gap”
Gillian Brunet, UC Berkeley and Ellora Derenoncourt, Harvard University
3:00 PM BREAK
3:15 PM “Robert Gordon and the Economic Interpretation of World War II”
Alex Field, Santa Clara University
4:00 PM “Debt service, financial deepening, and credit booms: a historical perspective”
Mathias Drehmann, Mikael Juselius and Sarah Quincy, UC Davis
7:00 PM DINNER
1:30 PM “Heterogeneity in disease resistance and the impact of antibiotics in the US”
Justin Cook, UC Merced
2:15 PM “The Paradox of the Joneses: Superstar Houses and Mortgage Frenzy in Suburban America”
Clement Bellet, London School of Economics
3:00 PM BREAK
3:30 PM “Before the American Dream: The Early Years of Urban Home Ownership, The United States, 1850-1940”
Richard Sutch
4:15 PM “Mortgage Contract Choice Before the Great Depression”
Jonathan Rose, Federal Reserve Board
5:00 PM Check-in
7:00 PM DINNER
Saturday, March 25th
7:30 AM BREAKFAST
8:30AM-12:00PM FREE TIME (Resort/Yosemite activities)
12:00 PM LUNCH
1:30 PM “World War II, the Cold War, and the Knowledge Economies of the Pacific Coast”
Gavin Wright, Stanford University
2:15 PM “The Influence of World War II Income and Saving on the Racial Wealth Gap”
Gillian Brunet, UC Berkeley and Ellora Derenoncourt, Harvard University
3:00 PM BREAK
3:15 PM “Robert Gordon and the Economic Interpretation of World War II”
Alex Field, Santa Clara University
4:00 PM “Debt service, financial deepening, and credit booms: a historical perspective”
Mathias Drehmann, Mikael Juselius and Sarah Quincy, UC Davis
7:00 PM DINNER
