'Demystifying the Mortgage Meltdown: What It Means for Main Street, Wall Street and the U.S. Financial System'

The mortgage markets meltdown has called into question whether the traditional securitization structures and mortgage funding sources can meet increased investor demand for simplicity, quality and transparency.  Although this presentation does not talk about covered bonds at all, it offers profound insights on why there is such interest in an alternative to traditional securitization in the U.S.

The slides (more than 80!) were prepared as part of a "Forum" presented by Milken Institute economists Glenn Yago and James Barth.  They are relatively opinion-free and long on factual data.  You’ll find page after page of analytics and documented data sources for what went wrong in mortgage finance from underwriting, product innovation, collateral valuations, PLS bond ratings, leverage ratios of securities issuers, and much more.

This is the first research document we happen to have read from the Milken Institute.  Although we approached it with a degree of skepticism, we ended up very impressed.

To download a PDF of “Demystifying the Mortgage Meltdown” from the Milken Institute website, look for "a "View Slides" icon on the page you will find here.  On the same page, you also have the option to view a webcast of the Forum.