President Barack Obama recently announced his intent to nominate Raphael Bostic as Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Dr. Bostic is a Professor in USC’s School of Policy, Planning, and Development. Mr. Bostic studies the roles that credit markets, financing, and policy play in enhancing household access to economic and social amenities. Dr. Bostic is an expert on housing and homeownership, and has extensively studied the roles that credit markets, financing, and policy play in enhancing household access to economic and social amenities. He is also currently studying the effects of community development financial institutions on neighborhood well-being, how anti-predatory lending laws impact credit flows, and the role of the private label secondary market in facilitating the flow of capital to subprime and possibly predatory loans. He teaches courses in affordable housing development, urban economics, real estate finance, policy and planning analysis, and public finance. Dr. Bostic was formerly Director of the school’s Master of Real Estate Development degree program and was the founding director of the Casden Real Estate Economics Forecast. He previously worked at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, where he was awarded a Special Achievement Award for his performance associated with a review of the CRA. He earned his Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University and his BA from Harvard University. read more…