Neighborhoods and communities have also suffered profoundly from the onslaught of foreclosures, as the neglect and deterioration that frequently accompany vacant properties makes neighborhoods less desirable places to live and may put further downward pressure on house prices.2  The problems that led to the mortgage crisis and the potential policy solutions to those problems are numerous and varied.
Even though time does not permit a full discussion of them here, I do believe that forceful and effective housing policies have the potential to significantly influence the speed and strength of our economic recovery. The Federal  2  10  See, for example, John Y. Campbell, Stefano Giglio, and Parag Pathak (2011), “Forced Sales and House Prices,” American Economic Review, vol.