Demographic trends – pronounced in Europe, with some countries already experiencing declining populations – further highlight the problem. A high debt burden is much more easily managed in countries with higher potential growth prospects, one driver of which is population growth. This problem was slowly but steadily accumulating over many years. Then the financial crisis occurred.
I am pleased to be here at the first in a series of public hearings regarding changes to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). The Board has scheduled these hearings to assess the adequacy of the current mortgage data requirements and examine the need to collect additional data from lenders.