peoplespolicyproject | The People’s Policy Project is proud to release its first formal
paper. Co-authored by Ryan Cooper and Matt Bruenig and designed by Jon
White, it uses data from the Survey of Consumer Finances to track the
evolution of African-American wealth during the Obama presidency, and
how that wealth was affected by housing policy choices made by the
administration.
The paper finds that while President Obama had wide discretion and
appropriated funds to relieve homeowners caught in the economic crisis,
the policy design his administration chose for his housing program was a
disaster. Instead of helping homeowners, at every turn the
administration was obsessed with protecting the financial system — and
so homeowners were left to drown.
As a result, the percentage of black homeowners who were underwater on their mortgage exploded 20-fold from 2007 to 2013.
Most middle-class wealth is housing wealth. Obama’s failure meant that
while the top 10 percent of white households saw large increases in
wealth due to the bank bailout restoring stock market values, almost
everyone else in the country suffered serious losses.
For the rest of the paper, click here.
Media Coverage
Jacobin: How Obama Destroyed Black Wealth
The Dig: The Destruction of Black Wealth with Ryan Cooper
Newsweek: Racism in Boston: African-Americans Have a Median Net Worth of $8, New Report Shows
Splinter News: How the Obama Administration Failed Black Homeowners
