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| by Pamela Baldwin Deputy Director |
October in Cambridge means the
Head of the Charles, fall foliage, students settling in, and the Joint Center’s
annual John T. Dunlop Lecture.
Last week at the Harvard
Graduate School of Design, former U.S. Senator and HUD Secretary Mel Martinez
delivered an address entitled America’s
Housing Policy: Charting a Course for Recovery. In an auditorium filled with students and faculty, members
of the Joint Center’s Policy Advisory Board, and the general public, Senator
Martinez outlined why bipartisanship and bridging ideological differences will
be the critical components of any policy agenda that seeks recovery, both for
the U.S. economy in general and housing markets in particular. Speaking from his current perspective as
Co-Chair of the Bipartisan Policy Center Housing Commission and Chairman of the
Southeast and Latin America at JPMorgan Chase, Senator Martinez called on
federal policymakers to make housing and reform of the nation’s housing finance
system a central priority, regardless of the outcome of the November election. He set out a broad vision of housing at the
center of national economic policy discussions and offered recommendations for
addressing four of the deepest challenges affecting homeowners, renters,
lenders, and communities: homeownership and access to credit, foreclosure
mitigation, overhauling the housing finance system, and the future of
multifamily and rental housing.
That the path to recovery is
truly a bridge is a welcome theme for a lecture that honors the life and work
of the late Professor Dunlop. His career
as a labor economist, emeritus
professor, dean, and advisor to every president from Franklin Delano Roosevelt to George W. Bush was
characterized by his dedication to bridging the worlds of business and
government, and leveraging academic research to provide knowledge that informs
effective decision-making in both spheres.
As an embodiment of his legacy, the lecture delivered by Senator
Martinez was a fitting tribute, evoking Professor Dunlop’s vision of bringing
balance and civility to national policy discussions, and calling on both
political parties to be mindful of the “shared destiny” implicit in repairing
and recovering the American dream of safe and affordable housing for all.
We thank the National Housing Endowment for supporting the Dunlop Lecture. Click the video below to watch Senator Martinez’s speech. We welcome your comments and responses.
We thank the National Housing Endowment for supporting the Dunlop Lecture. Click the video below to watch Senator Martinez’s speech. We welcome your comments and responses.
Photo by Jared Charney
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