Mark A. Calabria
Encyclopedia
Mark A. Calabria, Ph.D. is Director of Financial Regulation Studies at the Cato Institute
. He was a member of the senior staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs where he handled issues related to housing
, mortgage
finance
, economics
, banking and insurance
for Ranking Member Richard Shelby
. Dr. Calabria previously served as staff on the Senate Banking Committee under Chairman Phil Gramm
. Calabria has served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regulatory Affairs at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and also held a variety of positions at Harvard University
's Joint Center for Housing Studies, the National Association of Home Builders
and the National Association of Realtors
. He was a Research Associate with the U.S. Census Bureau's Center for Economic Studies.
Mark Calabria has testified before Congress and has appeared on CSPAN Booktv discussing "How America's Infatuation with Home Ownership and Easy Money Created the Economic Crisis". He has written for Forbes
, San Diego Union-Tribune, The Wall Street Journal (Online), and the New York Post
. He has discussed related issues on CNBC
's The Kudlow Report & Street Signs, Fox
affiliate WTTG News, NBC
affiliate WDSU
News, and WOR
's The Steve Malzberg
Show.
In his testimony before the House Committee on Financial Services in September 2009, Dr. Calabria stated that, "the current foreclosure
relief efforts have largely been unsuccessful because they have misidentified the underlying causes of mortgage default. It is not exploding ARMs or predatory lending
that drives the current wave of foreclosures, but negative equity
driven by house prices declines coupled with adverse income shocks that are the main driver of defaults on primary residences."
Cato Institute
The Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Edward H. Crane, who remains president and CEO, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the conglomerate Koch Industries, Inc., the largest privately held...
. He was a member of the senior staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs where he handled issues related to housing
House
A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
, mortgage
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
finance
Finance
"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...
, economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
, banking and insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
for Ranking Member Richard Shelby
Richard Shelby
Richard Craig Shelby is the senior U.S. Senator from Alabama. First elected to the Senate in 1986, he is the ranking member of the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and was its chairman from 2003 to 2007....
. Dr. Calabria previously served as staff on the Senate Banking Committee under Chairman Phil Gramm
Phil Gramm
William Philip "Phil" Gramm is an American economist and politician, who has served as a Democratic Congressman , a Republican Congressman and a Republican Senator from Texas...
. Calabria has served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regulatory Affairs at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and also held a variety of positions at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
's Joint Center for Housing Studies, the National Association of Home Builders
National Association of Home Builders
The National Association of Home Builders is one of the largest trade associations in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, DC, NAHB's mission is "to enhance the climate for housing and the building industry...
and the National Association of Realtors
National Association of Realtors
The National Association of Realtors , whose members are known as Realtors, is North America's largest trade association. representing over 1.2 million members , including NAR's institutes, societies, and councils, involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries...
. He was a Research Associate with the U.S. Census Bureau's Center for Economic Studies.
Mark Calabria has testified before Congress and has appeared on CSPAN Booktv discussing "How America's Infatuation with Home Ownership and Easy Money Created the Economic Crisis". He has written for Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
, San Diego Union-Tribune, The Wall Street Journal (Online), and the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
. He has discussed related issues on CNBC
CNBC
CNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBCUniversal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers...
's The Kudlow Report & Street Signs, Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
affiliate WTTG News, NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliate WDSU
WDSU
WDSU, virtual channel 6, is the NBC-affiliated television station for the New Orleans, Louisiana television market. It is owned by Hearst Television, which in turn is wholly owned by the Hearst Corporation. It broadcasts on UHF digital channel 43...
News, and WOR
WOR
WOR or Wor may refer to:* WOR , a radio station licensed to New York, New York, United States* WRKS, a radio station licensed to New York, New York, United States, which used the call sign WOR-FM from 1948 to October 1972...
's The Steve Malzberg
Steve Malzberg
Steve Malzberg is a radio personality. He most recently hosted The Steve Malzberg Show on the WOR Radio Network.A graduate of Brooklyn College, Malzberg worked at 77 WABC for over twenty-five years in several capacities, i.e., as an overnight political talk show host, a sports commentator, and...
Show.
In his testimony before the House Committee on Financial Services in September 2009, Dr. Calabria stated that, "the current foreclosure
Foreclosure
Foreclosure is the legal process by which a mortgage lender , or other lien holder, obtains a termination of a mortgage borrower 's equitable right of redemption, either by court order or by operation of law...
relief efforts have largely been unsuccessful because they have misidentified the underlying causes of mortgage default. It is not exploding ARMs or predatory lending
Predatory lending
Predatory lending describes unfair, deceptive, or fraudulent practices of some lenders during the loan origination process. While there are no legal definitions in the United States for predatory lending, an audit report on predatory lending from the office of inspector general of the FDIC broadly...
that drives the current wave of foreclosures, but negative equity
Negative equity
Negative equity occurs when the value of an asset used to secure a loan is less than the outstanding balance on the loan. In the United States, assets with negative equity are often referred to as being "underwater", and loans and borrowers with negative equity are said to be "upside down".People...
driven by house prices declines coupled with adverse income shocks that are the main driver of defaults on primary residences."