Former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros says the housing crisis is the fault of brought unscrupulous business people, not the government.
In a recent speech to the National Association of Real Estate Editors, Cisneros said the government wasn't to blame for the crisis in the housing market -- at least not completely.
"'The real problem occurred not out of a governmental push, but out of a hijacking of the homeownership process by some unscrupulous interests,' Mr. Cisneros said to an audience of roughly 50 at the Hilton Austin hotel.
Mr. Cisneros did acknowledge some fault with federal housing policies of the 1990s and 2000s. There wasn't enough willingness to regulate, he said. Specifically, the feds missed opportunities in the 1990s to consider regulating risky financial instruments such as derivatives and complicated hedging strategies. 'It was bipartisan,' he said of the bias against regulation. 'Both the Clinton and Bush Administration chose not to do it.'"
FULL STORY: Cisneros: Profiteers, Not Government, To Blame for Housing Crisis
How Much Influence Can the Federal Government Have on the Housing Crisis?
A couple of questions are fundamental to the debate about the housing affordability crisis.
Republican Attacks Shifting Focus Toward Cities
By focusing their criticism on the federal government, argues Jonathan Chait, Republicans fail to address the real problem: over-regulation on the state and local level.
A Call to Regulators: Do More to Protect Electricity Infrastructure
America’s electricity infrastructure is vulnerable to physical attack. And while federal regulators have known this for years, they’ve been slow to compel security upgrades.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association