In the Media
News from CSEM
A Revolution in Public Transportation From A Town You Wouldn't Expect
American Institute for Economic Research
It’s taken more than a hundred years for low-density cities to recognize that public transportation works far better in a point-to-point model, using private-public partnerships.
CSEM director takes part in national panel confronting inequities in education
CSEM News
On July 18th, CSEM Director Craig Richardson took part in a panel in Portland, Oregon, on the award-winning documentary film RIGGED (riggeddocumentary.com). RIGGED lays bare a U.S. higher education culture in which wealth and influence remain the predominant values. CSEM is featured in the film as one of the nation’s innovators in education, along with campus faculty who connect with students in ways that inspire them to succeed after college.
Why “Disincentive Deserts” Matter Far More Than Benefits Cliffs
American Institute for Economic Research
Benefits cliffs certainly remain an important area of policy study, but we should pay more attention to creatively solving the problems of disincentive deserts, since they exist for such long and dispiriting spans of workers’ income journey, rolling back benefits at a rate that is equivalent to a 60-95% effective marginal tax rate.
CSEM Director has summer stint at American Institute of Economic Research in Massachusetts
CSEM News
Craig Richardson was invited to participate as a Summer Research Fellow in June, working with dozens of economists at the Massachusetts-based think tank in western part of the state. Richardson interacted with economists from around the country as well as graduate students in economics and philosophy. He is no stranger to AIER, having served as a summer research fellow from 2005-2014, and is now a frequent contributor to AIER's website, where he publishes short and accessible articles. Many of these articles focus on work by CSEM, and enjoy the wide readership around the world. Some of his recent articles include highlighting CSEM's work on the disincentives from the social welfare programs, micro-transit, and affordable housing. Richardson also held a workshop seminar for the AIER faculty and students, where he outlined CSEM's research on so called "disincentive deserts" in the welfare system that discourage work. More of Richardson's articles can be seen at American Institute for Economic Research.
What are taxpayers receiving from the City of Winston-Salem’s affordable housing research costing almost $700,000? (Part 1)
The Chronicle
Last year the Winston-Salem City Council approved $322,000 for an action plan on affordable housing to be drafted by a New Orleans organization, HousingNOLA, which faces serious struggles in its own city in achieving its action plan on affordable housing.
New published research by CSEM demonstrates link between increased banking regulations and falling property values in East Winston
CSEM News
Gentrification has not been the most pressing problem in the eastern side of Winston-Salem, with largely Black and Hispanic households with modest incomes. CSEM research shows that on the contrary, property values between 2010 to 2021 have fallen by as much as 40 percent or more, which is primarily comprised of Black and Hispanic households. Craig Richardson and Zach Blizard (formerly a researcher at CSEM) show a first-ever link between the collapse of lending at the lower end of the market and the fall in property values. East Winston has many homes valued at less than $100,000, and 2010 federal banking regulations (known as the Dodd-Frank Act) increased the fixed cost of issuing all loans regardless of size. As a result, many lending institutions stopped offering so-called "small dollar mortgages," resulting in mostly all-cash buyers being left in the market. With fewer buyers, the authors hypothesized, the prices for housing would fall. Their statistical analysis finds that to be the case, after controlling for other variables. Their work has just been published online in the prestigious peer-reviewed economics journal, Public Choice, this summer.
What Are W-S Taxpayers Receiving From $700,000 in Affordable Housing Research? (Part 2)
The Chronicle
This is the second of a two-part series that started last week. To see the first part, go to What are taxpayers receiving from the City of Winston-Salem’s affordable housing research costing almost $700,000?
Federal Reserve prominently cites CSEM affordable housing research in latest 2022 report
CSEM News
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia released a December 2022 report titled "Small-Dollar Mortgage Lending in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware" in an attempt to discover the reasons for the rapid decline in mortgages aimed at families who want to purchase inexpensive, or "small dollar" homes, typically $100,000 or less. In the report, the authors explain the reason, using the research of a joint New America/CSEM report issued last year on the same subject, titled The Lending Hole at the Bottom of the Homeownership Market.
