I’m not sure they all agreed, TG. For years, Shiller was the voice in the wilderness, saying forthrightly that home prices were an unsupportable bubble. Now he cheers government measures to support home prices, unlike the other two economists here. I can only conclude that his love of a bigger role for government in this case is greater than his love for telling the truth like it is.
I can understand this, although I think it’s a net loss for us all. For years, Shiller has pushed all sorts of new financial instruments to help improve people’s lives by insuring them against risks not currently covered by financial institutions. He is probably frustrated by private insitutions not picking up enough of his ideas and sees a brighter future for his ideas in front of a government audience. So he’s paying some govt dues now.
