By Karen Shaw Petrou

The ability of U.S. borrowers to refinance their residential mortgages may seem like a small matter when considering economic inequality, but it’s actually a critical question given the central importance of homes to wealth accumulation for all but the richest Americans.  Some have suggested that mortgage refinancings (refis) simply be banned for lower-income households to prevent wealth-destroying equity extraction, while others have claimed that refis not only promote home ownership and economic growth, but also validate the equality benefits of post-crisis monetary policy.  A new paper from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia demonstrates that refis aren’t economic equality curses or blessings – instead, they’re procyclical accelerants that put vulnerable borrowers at risk in booms when credit flows far too freely and that then excludes those most in need of lower-cost loans as post-crisis loans go only to the wealthiest households in the highest-priced homes.  Continue reading “Refi Madness” →