FreedomWorks Foundation to Host Policy Luncheon on Subprime Bailout

Business Wire, March 21, 2008

Professor Todd Sinai of The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania to Keynote

WASHINGTON -- FreedomWorks Foundation will be hosting a Capitol Hill policy luncheon on the subprime bailout issue featuring its Chief Economist Dr. Wayne Brough and Dr. Todd Sinai of The Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania. The event is Monday, March 24th from 12:00pm until 1:30pm in B-354 Rayburn House Office Building. Lunch will be provided. The topic for the luncheon is The Mortgage Crisis: Understanding the Impacts of Subprime Relief Programs.

Prof. Sinai is a nationally known expert on real estate economics and housing bubbles, and the author of a recent paper released by FreedomWorks Foundation entitled The Inequity of Subprime Mortgage Relief Programs.

FreedomWorks Foundation President Matt Kibbe commented, "The bursting housing bubble and subsequent increase in subprime mortgage defaults are a concern in Congress. Many policy proposals unfortunately involve significant new federal involvement in lending and housing markets. Is a political intervention that rewards speculative or high-risk decision-making and punishes responsible decision-making warranted?

"FreedomWorks Foundation believes that the market needs to be allowed to reprice mortgage loans and property values, and the government should not exacerbate the situation with policies that create moral hazard, distort prices, and push costs onto taxpayers. Our luncheon will examine the trade-offs inherent in these different policy approaches."

For more information about the luncheon, please contact FreedomWorks event coordinator Nan Swift at nswift@freedomworks.org or 202-942-7675.