January 14, 2013
United Press International featured research by USC Price School of Public Policy Professor Dowell Myers finding that a decline in California's child population could harm the state's economic future.
December 28, 2012
La Opinion quoted Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, senior fellow of the USC Price School of Public Policy, about Californians being more optimistic about the economy.
December 20, 2012
Minnesota Public Radio interviewed Richard Green, USC Price professor and director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate, about the role of Generation X in the national economy.
November 30, 2012
The Los Angeles Times featured research by USC Price Research Professor Adam Rose and colleagues, finding that an earthquake shutting down water delivery from Northern California could devastate L.A.'s economy. "There are a couple of different ways to deal with this," Rose said, stressing the need to protect the California Aqueduct at its source and to invest in alternative water supply sources, storage and desalination.
November 28, 2012
USC Price School of Public Policy students who took part in the school's China Lab presented their findings to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Port-Cities Programme working group in Paris. The presentation explored the intersection of international trade, public policy and urban planning by comparing the impacts of global goods movement in L.A. with those of China's Zhejiang Province.
November 23, 2012
KPCC-FM interviewed Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, senior fellow at the USC Price School of Public Policy, about the political risks California Gov. Jerry Brown might face if he tweaked Proposition 13.
November 16, 2012
The New York Times quoted USC Price Senior Associate Dean Genevieve Giuliano about a need for toll roads to alleviate congestion on California roadways.
November 12, 2012
Business Insider published a presentation made by Richard Green, USC Price professor and director of the Lusk Center of Real Estate, highlighting economic recovery in different U.S. states.
Nov 1, 2012
The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy's Noah Dormady, Adam Rose and Dan Wei in October received the first Outstanding Economic Analysis Award from Regional Economic Models, Inc. (REMI). The award was given in recognition of their paper, "Regional macroeconomic assessment of the Pennsylvania Climate Action Plan," published in the journal, Regional Science: Policy and Practice.
October 24, 2012
The Riverside Press Enterprise highlighted a documentary about the housing crisis, based on the dissertation project that USC alumnus Imran Farooq did while at the USC Price School. The documentary looks at ways to help neighborhoods devastated by foreclosures, following Farooq's community revitalization efforts in San Bernardino, Fontana, Bloomington and other areas.
October 12, 2012
The San Jose Mercury News quoted USC Price professors Richard Green and Dowell Myers about the tax deduction for mortgage interest.
October 9, 2012
SmartPlanet highlighted an op-ed by USC Price Professor Richard Little of the USC Price School about the privatization of water.
October 8, 2012
The Wall Street Journal ran an op-ed by Senior Fellow Richard Little of the USC Price School about the need to privatize water as a utility. Drinking water systems require as much as $1 trillion of investment in the next 25 years. "With privatized water, there is a new emphasis on fiscal responsibility -- and measurable efficiency gains," Little wrote.
October 1, 2012
The Los Angeles Times ran an op-ed by USC Price Senior Fellow William Fulton about the hidden costs of city sprawl, and how they contribute to city bankruptcies. "Where houses go, where businesses go, where roads go, where sidewalks go, where farms and open space go are all things that collectively affect a community's economic performance and the cost of providing services there," Fulton wrote.
July 7, 2012
The Omaha World-Herald quoted Associate Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy about the economic value of the arts.
June 5, 2012
The Atlantic quoted USC Price Associate Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett on how pet-friendly policies contributed to the revitalization of downtown Los Angeles. Currid-Halkett sees the growth of the canine community downtown as a symptom rather than a cause of revitalization. "Other types of economic development efforts, such as attracting amenities and businesses, revitalizing old lofts, and cleaning up the streets will attract downtown denizens, who will bring their dogs with them," she says. "The accidental spillover effect of these inhabitants, including the small furry ones, does help increase safety just by virtue of the fact that more people increases density and more use of the sidewalk."
May 23, 2012
The Daily Maverick (South Africa) cited Professor Dowell Myers of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy about Europe's changing demographics. Myers explains that European societies with low levels of immigration now have young populations too small to support their aging population, heightening difficulties with their economies, according to the story.
May 13, 2012
Zocalo Public Square ran an op-ed by Professor Dowell Myers of the USC Price School about the narrative that people are "fleeing" California. Myers wrote that California natives tend to stay in the state, which is an important piece of demographic data that many ignore. "This giant state has an economy that is equivalent in production to the eighth-largest nation in the world," Myers wrote.
April 16, 2012
The Los Angeles Times quoted USC Price Distinguished Fellow Stan Ross, chairman the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, about possible real estate or media development in Chavez Ravine.
April 16, 2012
The Washington Post ran an interview with Associate Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett of the USC Price School about people's fascination with celebrity romances.
April 16, 2012
The Birmingham News cited an interview with Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett of the USC Price School about people's fascination with celebrity romances.
March 14, 2012
U.S. News & World Report featured several USC schools and programs in its 2013 edition of "Best Graduate Schools." The USC Price School was ranked No. 4 for Health Policy and Management; No. 6 in Public Affairs, up from No. 7 last year; No. 6 for Public Management Administration; No. 7 for City Management and Urban Policy; No. 7 for Nonprofit Management; No. 9 in Social Policy; No. 12 for Public Policy Analysis; and No. 21 for Public Finance and Budgeting.
February 29, 2012
NBC News Los Angeles affiliate KNBC-TV interviewed Assistant Professor Jenny Schuetz of the USC Price School about Walmart's labor practices and its similarities to competitor Target.
February 24, 2012
Salon ran an op-ed by Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett of the USC Price School about research she conducted with a colleague, finding that star sighting spots differ according to the type of celebrity. Celebrities who are famous for being famous -- including Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian -- are sighted more often in Los Angeles. But for Oscar winners and nominees, there are many more sightings in Tokyo, Paris, Cannes and Madrid, corresponding to movie premieres, film festivals and galas. Currid-Halkett wrote that the Academy Awards can be ignored: "Ironically, despite the fact that the Oscars are a celebration of the best and brightest in Hollywood, our research suggests that for talent-driven stars there is little career need to show up at all."
February 17, 2012
The Huffington Post noted that Professor Roberto Suro of the USC Price School of Public Policy and the Annenberg School of Communication & Journalism attended a Washington, D.C., roundtable on Latino law and civil rights issues, and cited him regarding Latinos' public policy concerns. Suro is director of the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute at USC, the story noted.
February 17, 2012
The Atlantic cited a study co-authored by Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett of the USC Price School of Public Policy finding that four out of 10 knowledge workers don't have college degrees.
February 6, 2012
Hsu Jen-hui, dean of the College of Management at Shih Hsin University in Taipei, has been appointed Taiwan's deputy finance minister. Hsu, a graduate of the doctoral program at USC Price, specializes in local government finance and new institutional economics, the story noted.
January 25, 2012
The San Diego Reader cited a report by USC Price adjunct faculty Murtaza Baxamusa about the number of jobs that could be created by a proposed Convention Center expansion in downtown San Diego.
January 18, 2012
Bloomberg News quoted Senior Fellow Sherry Jeffe of the USC Price School about Gov. Jerry Brown's balancing act between supporting California's proposed high-speed rail network and raising taxes.
January 10, 2012
The Atlantic featured research by USC Price Assistant Professor Jenny Schuetz and a New School colleague, who studied gentrification patterns in New York. The study looked at 208 New York City ZIP codes between 1998 and 2007 to see how retail properties, demographics and affluence changed during that time. The study noted that "low-income neighborhoods have lower densities of both establishments and employment, smaller average establishment size, and less diverse retail composition." The story highlighted another study by Schuetz and colleagues showing that the kinds of retail attracted to a neighborhood vary widely in terms of type of service, type of store and quality of goods.
January 9, 2012
The Associated Press quoted USC Price Professor Marlon Boarnet about a Hollywood Community Plan that would allow more skyscrapers along the Hollywood Corridor.
December 12, 2011
Bloomberg News quoted Richard Green, USC Price professor and director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate, about Delta Air Lines investing in upgrades at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
November 14, 2011
The Los Angeles Times quoted Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett of the USC Price School of Public Policy and author of "Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity," about Kim Kardashian's divorce being good for her pop-cultural standing.
November 8, 2011
USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development students learned about the latest privately built apartment complex intended for USC students as part of SPPD's Fell Undergraduate Student Conversation series last month. Con Howe, managing director of developer CityView and adjunct faculty member at SPPD, provided the details on the development of West 27th Place, which puts the luxury amenities usually reserved for apartments downtown just a short bike ride down the Figueroa corridor from the University Park campus.
November 5, 2011
The New York Times cited an op-ed by Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development about Kim Kardashian's knack for creating celebrity hype around herself.
November 3, 2011
The Washington Post highlighted a blog post by Richard Green, SPPD professor and director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, on how removing mortgage interest deductions in the tax code would help the economy more than raising taxes would. Green wrote that if his income is taxed, the impact on his desire to work is ambiguous. Removing the mortgage interest deduction would provide incentive to work more, he added. "Leisure is no less expensive (there is no substitution effect), but my desire to restore my previous income remains as before," Green wrote
November 2, 2011
The Wall Street Journal ran an op-ed by Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development about Kim Kardashian's ability to generate publicity for herself -- a trait she shares with some of the most successful modern artists. Currid-Halkett, author of "Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity," wrote that Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst, all respected artists, also became brands. "What Koons and Hirst seem to know, as does Kardashian, is that there is more money to be made if you can cultivate a public interest in yourself that equals or exceeds interest in your work," she wrote. She added that this celebrity becomes an economic driver, bringing ad revenue to media outlets and ultimately providing jobs for agents, publicists, journalists and photographers.
October 15, 2011
The New York Times ran an op-ed by USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, author of "The Warhol Economy: How Fashion, Art and Music Drive New York City," about the economic drivers of art districts. The column questions the National Endowment for the Arts' strategy of creating jobs by funding arts projects in blighted areas, stating that successful arts districts develop organically before receiving funding. "Instead of a shotgun approach that assumes every post-industrial zone or blighted district can, with a few million dollars in subsidies, become the next SoHo, we should follow the lead of the metaphorical college that puts down sidewalks only after the students have hewn their own paths," Currid-Halkett wrote.
October 9, 2011
The Columbus Dispatch quoted SPPD Senior Fellow Richard Little about Ohio State University's sale of its parking operation to a private vendor. Little is director of the Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy at USC, the story noted.
October 6, 2011
The Wall Street Journal reported that Richard Green, SPPD professor and director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, spoke before a Senate Finance Committee hearing on mortgage interest deductions. Eliminating the deduction entirely would only lead to a percentage-point decline in the nation's home ownership rate, Green said.
October 6, 2011
The Wall Street Journal reported that Richard Green, SPPD professor and director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, spoke before a Senate Finance Committee hearing on mortgage interest deductions. Eliminating the deduction entirely would only lead to a percentage-point decline in the nation's home ownership rate, Green said.
September 30, 2011
Does the economy need to rebound to repair the housing market or does the housing market need to be fixed to improve the economy? It's the sort of chicken-or-egg scenario that keeps policymakers up at night. Richard Green, USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development professor and director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, said history has shown that housing tends to lead the business cycle. Housing recovers and the economy follows. That realization makes housing a major issue to consider for national and statewide elections, Green indicated on Sept. 14 as part of the Road to the White House: Politics, Media and Technology series.
September 28, 2011
The Daily Breeze featured a new report by the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate on job prospects in the real estate industry. The center documented a 25 percent increase in job openings in 2011. "In addition, most students in the class of 2011 received more than one job offer, with better pay. This year's average total compensation package was approximately $120,000, a 15 percent increase over 2010," the report stated. There has also been a dramatic shift in the types of real estate positions available, with a resurgence in finance, investment and asset management, said Stan Ross, chairman of the center.
August 25, 2011
The Orange County Register ran an op-ed by Richard Little, senior fellow at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, about the role infrastructure projects could play in California's economic recovery. "There are currently billions of dollars in bonding authority for infrastructure already approved by voters but as yet uncommitted to projects," Little wrote. "Putting these billions to work now on long-overdue infrastructure projects would not only revitalize construction and related industries but would also ensure that other important sectors of the economy would have the infrastructure in place to support their activities in the future."
July 27, 2011
The Los Angeles Times cited research by Professor Dowell Myers of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development on California's future homeowners, and mentioned his book "Immigrants and Boomers: Forging a New Social Contract for the Future of America."
July 23, 2011
The Arizona Daily Star cited SPPD Professor Richard Green, who directs the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, regarding a Chicago plan to build what would become America's tallest building.
July 21, 2011
Bloomberg News quoted Richard Green, SPPD professor and director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, about a Chicago plan to build what would become the tallest building in the United States.
July 20, 2011
The Philadelphia Inquirer quoted SPPD Distinguished Fellow Stan Ross about the housing demand that will result from Generation Y reaching adulthood. Ross is the chairman of the board at the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
July 13, 2011
The Los Angeles Times ran an op-ed by SPPD Professor Lisa Schweitzer on whether the U.S., like Greece, might have to privatize large portions of its transportation system as a result of debt crisis. "So long as Americans refuse to even index gas taxes to inflation, let alone raise the tax outright, we won't be spending enough to maintain our transportation infrastructure, which means that its value will continue to fall," Schweitzer wrote. "That will make it difficult to attract private investment or get a fair price for state-owned assets if the government opts to privatize its transportation assets. Too many more years of disinvestment and we will have to make gun-to-the-head decisions like Greece's," she added.
July 7, 2011
The Los Angeles Times quoted USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development and USC Viterbi School of Engineering Professor James Moore about L.A. County adding toll lanes on the 10 and 110 freeways.
July 7, 2011
NBC News New York affiliate WNBC-TV reported that Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett and a Columbia University colleague will use Foursquare data from fashion influencers to create a map of New York's Garment District. "We think it's the little movements of fashion workers around the city, day-to-day, and the accessibility to all facets of the industry that add up to the significance of New York's position in the fashion world," Currid-Halkett said. "At the heart of our research, we wanted to know: 'How much does spatial proximity matter in the day-to-day workings of the fashion industry?'" The story mentioned a previous project in which the researchers analyzed celebrity spatial proximity using Getty Images.
June 15, 2011
Assembly member Isadore Hall, III (D- Los Angeles) -- a graduate of SPPD's Executive Master of Leadership program -- met with President Barack Obama at the White House to discuss national and state efforts to create jobs in California and spur economic development throughout the nation.
June 12, 2011
Booth News Service cited a 2008 study by SPPD Professor Dowell Myers and colleagues about the impact retiring baby boomers will have on the real estate market.
June 4, 2011
The Wall Street Journal quoted SPPD Professor Dowell Myers on the impact retiring baby boomers will have on the real estate market as they downsize their homes.
May 25, 2011
United Press International featured analysis of new census data by Dowell Myers, professor at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, which found that California's child population declined, as families moved out of state due to unemployment and high housing costs during the Great Recession. As a result, L.A. County workers may be in short supply in the future, Myers said. "The implications are that we really need to think about building a more supportive environment for families and kids," he added.
May 12, 2011
The Los Angeles Times quoted Richard Green, SPPD professor and director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, about the foreclosure rate and the necessary steps for the real estate market to return to normalcy.
April 29, 2011
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development gave new meaning to the words "travel planning" during the recent international planning studios in India and Argentina. Led by Tridib Banerjee, SPPD professor and director of graduate programs in urban planning, the two studios gave students an opportunity to put theory into practice, collaborating to address real-world planning challenges in international settings.
April 29, 2011
The Orange County Register quoted SPPD Professor Richard Green about housing market cycles. Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
April 26, 2011
Seventy-nine students from the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development spent their spring break working with government agencies, nonprofits or consulting firms through the school's Externship Program. SPPD's Office of Career Services matches students with host organizations nationwide based on their skills and interests. They work on substantive projects and gaining real-world exposure to jobs relevant to their studies.
April 22, 2011
The Christian Science Monitor quoted SPPD Associate Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, author of "Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity," about Donald Trump's fame and his presidential bid.
April 5, 2011
Even as housing prices plummeted and unemployment rates hit double digits, the so-called Great Recession did not correspond to a surge of Americans in poverty, according to a new USC study. Using the latest census figures, the study found conditions in California mostly improved since 2000. "It's surprising to see how well Los Angeles has fared despite greater losses than the nation in housing prices and employment," said lead author Dowell Myers, USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development professor.
March 30, 2011
Bloomberg News quoted SPPD Senior Fellow Sherry Bebitch Jeffe about Gov. Jerry Brown's efforts to bridge California's spending gap.
March 25, 2011
Hamburger Abendblatt (Germany) mentioned an upcoming lecture by SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett about her research on the creative industries.
March 23, 2011
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development (SPPD) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the State of Gujarat and the Center for Environmental Planning and Technology University in India to establish a long-term institutional partnership in education and research.
March 17, 2011
Pengyu Zhu, a Ph.D. student at SPPD, was awarded the Western Regional Science Association's 2011 Charles M. Tiebout Prize for the best paper submitted by a graduate student. Zhu received the honor on March 1 at the WRSA's 50th annual meeting in Monterey, Calif. His paper - "Are Telecommuting and Personal Travel Complements or Substitutes?" - will be published in The Annals of Regional Science, an international quarterly journal.
March 14, 2011
The Huffington Post featured work by USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development doctoral student Imran Farooq, who for his doctoral thesis worked to rehabilitate an underserved San Bernardino neighborhood, utilizing local community vendors and integrating environmentally sustainable building principles. "My goal is to create a model of neighborhood rehabilitation, anchored around private partnerships that can be used to stabilize neighborhoods affected by foreclosures," Farooq said.
March 7, 2011
The New Yorker noted that in her book "The Warhol Economy," SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett identified the Max Fish bar as a place that nurtures New York's creative community.
March 3, 2011
Bloomberg BusinessWeek quoted SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett about the impact of Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan troubles on their celebrity brand.
March 1, 2011
The Los Angeles Times quoted SPPD Professor Gary Painter about a rise in cash-only home purchases in California. Painter is director of research of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
February 24, 2011
Elizabeth Currid-Halkett will present her latest book, Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity, at the 2011 Literary Luncheon hosted by the Friends of the USC Libraries in Doheny Memorial Library on March 10. Currid-Halkett, assistant professor at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, joins the ranks of other renowned authors who previously have spoken as part of the series, including Michael Cunningham, Robin D. G. Kelley, M.G. Lord, Lisa See, University Professor Kevin Starr, Robin Swicord, Ayelet Waldman and Essie Mae Washington.
February 8, 2011
ESPN featured "Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity" by SPPD Associate Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett. In the book, she explores the collective fascination with the lives of movie stars, recording artists and tycoons. "Currid-Halkett notes that what qualifies someone to be a 'celebrity' isn't always talent," the story stated.
February 5, 2011
The Sydney Morning Herald quoted SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, author of "Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity," and Jeffrey Cole of the USC Annenberg School about celebrity and social media.
February 5, 2011
Ninemsn's "Today" (Australia) featured "Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity" by SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett. "[C]elebrity really is about that quality, that collective obsession we have about some people more than others," Currid-Halkett said. "[T]hese new kinds of social media, and the rise of the 24-7 gossip cycle, just provides us more information."
February 1, 2011
The Orange County Register cited a blog post by SPPD Professor Richard Green about the benefits of home ownership. Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
January 31, 2011
Not many dissertations become PBS documentaries, but that hasn't stopped doctoral candidate Imran Farooq from the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development. The media component of Farooq's dissertation has been made into SOS: Sustaining Our Society, a documentary to be broadcast on the PBS affiliate KVCR in April.
January 10, 2011
City News Service reported that Nobel Prize-winning economist David McFadden has joined the faculties of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development and USC College, and was named by USC President C. L. Max Nikias to the post of Presidential Professor of Health Economics. "His appointment reflects the university's solid commitment to its economics program, as well as its goal of strengthening the social sciences at USC," Nikias said. "He will be a resource and a colleague for the many USC scholars and graduate students who study economics, statistics, choice modeling and psychology," added USC Provost Elizabeth Garrett.
December 28, 2010
NPR's "All Things Considered" interviewed SPPD Professor Richard Green about home prices. Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
December 24, 2010
The Washington Post recommended the book Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity by SPPD assistant professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett in a list of gift suggestions for cerebral celebrity watchers. "It's the rare published work that smartly analyzes Paris Hilton's allure and statistically breaks down the geographical consistencies among red carpet events," the story stated.
December 15, 2010
Paper magazine ran a Q&A with Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, assistant professor at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, about her new book, Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity. "What my book demonstrates is that celebrities behave differently than everyone else and celebrities are people who we just collectively care about more than other people and are genuinely more fascinated with," Currid-Halkett said. "They perpetuate our fascination by giving us material to work with; they get themselves in the spotlight whatever that spotlight is." The story also mentioned her first book, The Warhol Economy.
December 8, 2010
The Wall Street Journal ran an op-ed by Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, assistant professor at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, about narcissism. "Contemporary society can be defined by its 'look at me' culture, which is visible on Facebook as much as Hollywood," Currid-Halkett wrote. "What are the ramifications of a culture of people addicted to sharing so much -- too much, perhaps -- about themselves? Would these individuals be narcissists if not for the rise of social media that enables that part of their personality to develop?" Currid-Halkett is author of The Warhol Economy and Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity, the story noted.
December 5, 2010
The Hartford Courant mentioned a research project by USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development graduate students, on economic development policies in Hartford, Conn.
December 1, 2010
Pacific Standard Magazine featured research by Gary Painter, USC Price professor and director of research at the Lusk Center for Real Estate, and a colleague, finding that immigrants are moving to mid-sized cities within the United States. The migration patterns are due to immigrants seeking out pre-established immigrant communities and places with low job competition. "The anticipated rapid growth of U.S. immigrant populations in the coming decades, coupled with their movement into midsize metro areas, has the potential to transform communities," Painter said.
November 23, 2010
KPCC-FM's "Patt Morrison" interviewed SPPD Assistant Elizabeth Currid-Halkett about her new book, Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity. The book examines celebrity, tracing its impact on economics, geography and networking.
November 21, 2010
Salon featured the book "Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity" by SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett. "As Elizabeth Currid-Halkett explains in her fascinating, well-researched new book ... recent developments in the celebrity industry can tell us a great deal about our changing global culture," the story stated. In both Los Angeles and New York, there are more than 100,000 people working in celebrity-driven industries, Currid-Halkett said. "And the payroll is extraordinary too: About $11 billion on L.A. payroll and $20 billion on New York City payroll."
November 20, 2010
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune cited a blog post by SPPD Professor Richard Green, regarding real estate as a savings tool.
November 17, 2010
The Huffington Post ran an op-ed that featured the book "Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity" by SPPD Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett. "Art stars are different from artists because they supply personae to their public," Currid-Halkett writes in the book. She points to Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Picasso and Duchamp as people who made their personalities inseparable from their art.
November 17, 2010
LAist ran a Q&A with SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett about her new book "Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity." "When I wrote my first book (The Warhol Economy) I was fascinated with how people became 'the best' in the creative industries," Currid-Halkett said. "Because art, fashion, music and film are taste-driven and subjectively measured more than other industries, I was curious as to what it meant to be considered highly talented and/or successful in these fields." She added that she doesn't observe celebrities having an influence over the students in her USC classes. "My students rarely, if ever, mention celebrities," she noted.
November 13, 2010
The Daily Mail (U.K.) ran an op-ed by SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett about why some people are celebrities and others are not, something Currid-Halkett explains in her new book, "Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity." "Stars penetrate the social networks of those who will uphold their status. Celebrities are celebrities partially because they are invited to the most exclusive events and spend time with particular people, which is why penetrating the celebrity network may help make up for lack of talent," Currid-Halkett wrote.
November 12, 2010
The Wall Street Journal ran a Q&A with SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett about which celebrities interest her at the moment and why. "Taylor Swift is so big right now in terms of her talent, and yet she's also doing interesting things in her personal life. She is in many ways the ultimate celebrity because we are reminded of her through her day job and also because she's with John Mayer and Jake Gyllenhaal. It's the perfect potent brew. That's the celebrity apex. It's what Angelina Jolie also accomplished," Currid-Halkett said. Currid-Halkett examines the modern celebrity machine, looking at the narrow geography of where celebrity events happen, the rewards of the celebrity social network and the future of celebrity in her new book, "Starstruck," the article stated.
November 12, 2010
Celebrity, these days, takes on many forms -- from the glamorous Hollywood icon to the irreverent YouTube sensation. And we follow with rapt attention every minute detail of their lives, whether they're buying a coffee at Starbucks or winning an Academy Award. In her new book, Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity, USC School of Policy, Planning and Development assistant professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett explores society's obsession with celebrity and delineates why we anoint some as stars but not others, and the profound business implications that entails.
November 11, 2010
Harvard Business Review ran an op-ed by SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett on the movie industry being torn between blockbuster movies and less profitable but potentially award-winning films. Currid-Halkett discussed the Blacklist, an annual list of screenplays that studio executives believe are the best. "The hype around it gets bigger ever year, and with good reason: my research shows that the Blacklist has an uncanny knack of turning scripts into movies and those movies drum up major awards," Currid-Halkett wrote. "But my research has uncovered another, less appealing finding: As prestigious as it might be, what the Blacklist doesn't do is make money -- or at least the kind of money that makes Hollywood sit up and take notice."
November 5, 2010
The New York Times cited research by SPPD Professor Glenn Melnick on effects of the allocation of market power among insurers and hospitals. Melnick found that health plan market concentration reduces hospital prices, while higher hospital market concentration results in higher prices. The widely held notion that more insurers in a market area will reduce the premiums paid by the insured isn't supported by economic theory or empirical research, the story stated.
November 5, 2010
The New York Times cited research by SPPD Professor Glenn Melnick on effects of the allocation of market power among insurers and hospitals. Melnick found that health plan market concentration reduces hospital prices, while higher hospital market concentration results in higher prices. The widely held notion that more insurers in a market area will reduce the premiums paid by the insured isn't supported by economic theory or empirical research, the story stated.
October 27, 2010
The Fresno Bee quoted SPPD Senior Fellow Sherry Bebitch Jeffe about the timing of high-speed rail funds, mostly by Democratic lawmakers, to coincide with the upcoming election.
October 25, 2010
Harvard Business Review ran an op-ed by SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett about networking among celebrities. "Personally, most of us have dismal, if not fictional, prospects for accessing the A-list," Currid-Halkett wrote. "But social networks drive success: 80 percent of life, as Woody Allen famously said, is showing up. Thus, while we can't ever aim to get onto the A-list, we can draw from our understanding of their network to position ourselves to get ahead in our own careers and to connect with the people in our 'relative A-list.'"
October 22, 2010
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution quoted SPPD Professor Dowell Myers on the effect of immigration and the recession on the demand for home buying.
October 18, 2010
USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development faculty members Richard Little and Mark Pisano spoke at a "Funding and Financing Solutions for Surface Transportation in the Coming Decade" conference at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, D.C. The conference, held last month, was co-sponsored by the USC Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy.
October 11, 2010
The San Gabriel Valley Tribune quoted SPPD Professor Richard Green on how loan modification legislation and programs have been ineffective in holding lenders accountable. Green is director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, the story noted.
October 7, 2010
The Los Angeles Times quoted SPPD Professor Richard Green on the home foreclosure crisis triggering a surge in apartment rents by pushing more people into renting. Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
September 23, 2010
The Wall Street Journal quoted Professor Richard Green about the limit for government-backed home loans decreasing. "We need to think how we are going to exit from a Fannie-and-Freddie world, and this is a very small step toward that exit," he said. Green is director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, the story noted.
September 5, 2010
Interplan, a publication of the international division of the American Planning Association, featured an article (pp. 6-7) written by SPPD master of planning student Joy Kwong on the recent planning studio in Berlin. Fifteen SPPD graduate students collaborated with eight master of urban design students from Berlin's Technical University "in a planning studio to re-imagine the potential of the gray field sites surrounding Berlin's newest mega-project, Hauptbahnof," Kwong wrote.
August 28, 2010
The Los Angeles Times quoted SPPD Professor Richard Green on what the federal government and mortgage lenders can do to encourage homebuying. Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
August, 28, 2010
The Los Angeles Times quoted SPPD Professor Richard Green on what the federal government and mortgage lenders can do to encourage home buying. Green is director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, the story noted.
August 23, 2010
The Atlantic cited a blog post by SPPD Professor Richard Green on whether homebuying is a good form of investment. Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
August 21, 2010
La Opinion quoted SPPD Professor Richard Green, director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, about the city of Bell's financial problems, which include a risky real estate investment.
August 18, 2010
The Riverside Press-Enterprise quoted SPPD Professor Richard Green about the impact of unemployment on home buying. Green is director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, the story noted.
August 17, 2010
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review quoted SPPD Senior Fellow Richard Little about public-private partnerships in city parking systems. Little is director of the Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy at USC, the story noted.
August 11, 2010
The Los Angeles Times quoted SPPD Professor Richard Green on an increase in short sales, particularly in California, and the South and Southwest. Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
July 28, 2010
The San Diego Union-Tribune quoted SPPD Senior Fellow Sherry Bebitch Jeffe about California Assembly Democrats who held a series of public meetings on the state's financial situation.
July 23, 2010
New greenhouse gas emissions policies at the federal level could generate as many as 2.5 million new jobs and $134 billion in economic activity in the United States while keeping energy costs down, according to a new report from the Center for Climate Strategies published jointly with Johns Hopkins University and co-written by USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development research professor Adam Rose.
July 22, 2010
The Los Angeles Times quoted SPPD Professor Richard Green about a decline in mortgage defaults in California. Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
June 30, 2010
The Riverside Press-Enterprise quoted SPPD Professor Dowell Myers about rising demand for luxury apartments as people who would normally buy opt to rent.
June 27, 2010
The North Jersey Record quoted Associate Professor Gary Painter about how the recession has forced people to live in multi-generational households. Painter is director of research of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
June 25, 2010
National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" interviewed SPPD Professor Richard Green about the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the mortgage market. Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
June 24, 2010
Fifteen senior-ranking officials from Vietnam's Ministry of Planning and Investment met with faculty from the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development in May to discuss prospective collaborations in education and research. "They are seeking partnerships for developing courses and programs in public administration, public finance, project management and other topics related to regional economic development in Vietnam," said SPPD Senior Associate Dean Genevieve Giuliano.
June 20, 2010
The Baltimore Sun quoted SPPD Associate Professor Gary Painter about the impact of recessions on the rate of new-household formation. Painter is director of research of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
June 16, 2010
The Los Angeles Times quoted SPPD Professor Richard Green, who directs the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, about home mortgage interest rates. "People worried that interest rates could jump, and they didn't. There is an appetite for investors to buy mortgages even without the Fed competing, so that is a real, positive thing," Green said.
June 10, 2010
The Bell Gardens Sun featured research by SPPD students Josefina Campos, Jasmine Kim and Lauren Yokomizo, who found that street vendors have thrived in Boyle Heights in part due to the compassion and complicity of residents and legally permitted businesses.
May 28, 2010
Newsweek quoted Professor Dowell Myers of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development about changes to the demographic trends that drove an influx of illegal Mexican immigrants to the United States in recent years.
May 24, 2010
Eleven graduate students representing the various master's programs in the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development launched the school's first student-adjudicated academic journal. The USC Policy, Planning, and Development Review, an online publication, aims to promote discourse among students of SPPD's professional degree programs by encouraging them to produce work that addresses important social topics.
May 7, 2010
During spring semester, 15 graduate students from the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development collaborated with students from the Technical University of Berlin on a comparative study of transit-adjacent urban redevelopment. "The overall focus of the Berlin planning studio was the large-scale redevelopment of inner-city rail station sites," said Deike Peters, a SPPD adjunct and director of the planning studio.
May 7, 2010
USA Today quoted SPPD Professor Dowell Myers about an increase in household size, or the number of people living under one roof. "I think it's the young adults," he said. "Residential mobility has slowed down and when it slows down, they're back in their parents' houses or living with roommates." Myer is a housing demographer at USC, the story noted.
April 30, 2010
At the fourth annual Department of Homeland Security University Network Summit, USC experts from the National Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE) impressed the homeland security community with what director Stephen Hora called "academic research that produces boots on the ground solutions." Hora is a research professor at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development.
April 28, 2010
The Los Angeles Times quoted SPPD Professor Richard Green, director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, about the homebuying market in California showing signs of recovery.
April 21, 2010
The Los Angeles Times quoted SPPD Professor Richard Green about a decline in mortgage default notices in the first quarter of 2010. Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
April 20, 2010
La Opinion quoted SPPD Senior Fellow Mark Pisano about Los Angeles' budget problems.
April 18, 2010
KPCC-FM's "Town Hall Journal" interviewed SPPD Professor Richard Green about development in Los Angeles' downtown. Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
April 15, 2010
Yin Wang, a doctoral student at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, won the ninth annual paper award competition of the American Society for Public Administration's Section on Transportation Policy and Administration. She won the honor for her essay "Determinants of Utilization of Private Finance in Toll Road Development: Evidence From the United States."
April 5, 2010
SmartMoney quoted Gary Painter, SPPD associate professor and director of research at the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, on the factors that will drive future California home buying.
March 25, 2010
A new study by researchers at USC's Lusk Center for Real Estate shows that an increasing number of new Americans are choosing to settle down in mid-size cities across the U.S., lured by less competition for jobs and growing neighborhoods of fellow immigrants. The study was co-authored by USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development associate professor Gary Painter and Zhou Yu, assistant professor at the University of Utah.
March 15, 2010
KPCC-FM Southern California Public Radio highlighted a new study by researchers at the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate titled, "Immigrants and Housing Markets in Mid-Size Metropolitan Areas." The study, co-authored by SPPD Associate Professor Gary Painter, who is director of research at the Lusk Center, found that an increasing number of immigrants are putting down permanent roots outside major urban centers, lured by less competition for jobs and growing neighborhoods of fellow immigrants, the story noted.
March 10, 2010
The Center for Sustainable Cities and its affiliated Sustainable Cities Graduate Certificate Program have been transferred from USC College to the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, where it will continue to engage in multidisciplinary research and education on one of the most pressing issues of our time: the environmental, social and economic sustainability challenges facing metropolitan regions.
March 4, 2010
Fox & Hounds Daily cited Professor Dowell Myers about the need for more college graduates and skilled workers who will be able to buy the houses of retiring baby boomers.
February 23, 2010
The Los Angeles Times quoted SPPD Senior Fellow William Fulton about Southern California cities considering new uses for vacant car lots including retail and office space or housing.
February 19, 2010
The Fresno Bee reported that SPPD Professor Richard Green participated in a discussion at California State University, Fresno, about housing prices. Green, director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, told real estate professionals that housing prices have hit bottom, but aren't likely to return soon to the peak levels of the real estate boom, the story noted.
February 19, 2010
The Christian Science Monitor quoted SPPD Professor Richard Green about the Obama aid package for homeowners facing foreclosures and how it may not be enough to fix the problem. Green is director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, the story noted.
February 19, 2010
USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development Professor Dowell Myers testified before the Joint Committee on the Master Plan for Higher Education at the State Capitol in Sacramento in February. Myers stressed the importance of older voters supporting higher education for youth, given the aging trend shaping the state's future.
February 17, 2010
Scientific American quoted SPPD Professor Dana Goldman about spending health care stimulus money on prevention efforts. Goldman is the director of the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at USC, the story noted.
February 17, 2010
The Los Angeles Times quoted Richard Green, SPPD professor and director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, about housing short sales. "Making short sales easier would go a long way to freeing up the market. Right now, if people are under water on their house, they are really stuck," Green said.
February 13, 2010
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette quoted SPPD Professor Dowell Myers about the possibility of sellers outnumbering buyers in the housing market and the importance of education for young people to help them afford their own home in the future.
February 8, 2010
CNN cited research conducted by SPPD's Adam Rose for USC's Homeland Security Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE). Rose's study found that the standard economic costs of the 9/11 attacks, estimated at $25 billion, were exceeded by the costs of behavioral reactions far from the site of the attack (for example, an additional $85 billion due to a decrease in demand for air travel).
February 4, 2010
The Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development celebrated its 10th anniversary with a forum on "Philanthropic Leadership: Exploring Opportunities in Uncertain Times." More than 200 leaders from the nonprofit sector, government, business and academia attended the two-day conference. The keynote speaker was Sonal Shah, deputy assistant to the U.S. President and director of the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation.
February 3, 2010
National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" interviewed Stan Ross of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate about commercial financing.
February 1, 2010
American Public Media's "Marketplace" interviewed Richard Green of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate about new stores moving into retail space left empty by the recession.
January 29, 2010
The Wall Street Journal quoted SPPD Senior Fellow Richard Little on California receiving stimulus funding to seed high-speed rail plans. "There's a huge push for electric systems in the state to get emission-free transportation," said Little, who directs the USC Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy. Little also said it was "dicey" that California would be able to garner all the funding through conventional means; he expects other sources to be tapped, including more user fees, the story noted.
January 28, 2010
Some of the nation's leading economists, budget policy experts and tax authorities gathered at the USC Gould School of Law to assess the looming fiscal crisis and look at the challenges facing the United States' economy in the next decade. SPPD Professor Dana Goldman, one of the panelists at the conference, discussed population health and longevity as a driver of fiscal imbalance.
January 25, 2010
Los Angeles Downtown News quoted Gary Painter, SPPD associate professor and director of research at the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, about commercial property foreclosures.
January 25, 2010
The The New York Times quoted SPPD Professor Richard Green about Ben Bernanke's nomination for a second term as Federal Reserve chairman. Green is director and chair of the Lusk Center for Real Estate at USC.
January 22, 2010
The Los Angeles Times quoted Professor Richard Green about recovery in the California housing market. Green was optimistic about the state's housing recovery, particularly in coastal areas, the story noted. "We really are different from Florida and Arizona. We probably built houses in the wrong place, we probably built houses that were too expensive, but we did not build too many houses the way that other places did," said Green, who directs the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate. "So that puts us in a fundamentally better position."
January 21, 2010
The Huffington Post ran a widely carried op-ed by SPPD Senior Fellow Sherry Bebitch Jeffe about Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's handling of the California budget. "Somebody should take California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger aside and remind him that you never bite the hand that feeds you -- even if you're still hungry after being fed," Jeffe wrote. "Faced with a $20 billion-plus budget deficit, a record-low approval rating and no prospect of garnering the two-thirds legislative vote required to raise taxes, he released a draconian state budget earlier this month and blamed everyone but himself for the fiscal mess that made it necessary."
January 20, 2010
The Central Valley Business Times quoted SPPD Distinguished Fellow Stan Ross on how real estate companies that survive the recession will be stronger for the experience. Ross is chairman of the board for the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
January 20, 2010
U.S. News & World Report cited research by SPPD Professor Dana Goldman on end-of-life health care spending. Goldman, along with three economists from the University of Chicago, found that spending more money toward the end of life makes sense. "Though many observers have claimed that such spending is often irrational and wasteful, little explicit analysis exists on the incentives that determine end of life healthcare spending," they wrote. They concluded that each year of life is not worth the same; the value of an additional year of life rises substantially as people get older. "The value of a life year equals total wealth when the alternative is death and decreases as you get further from there," they wrote.
January 20, 2010
The Los Angeles Times quoted Professor Richard Green about gains in the Southern California housing market. Green, director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, said that buyers have sensed more security in Southern California's real estate market in recent months and have begun to get off the fence, according to the story.
January 15, 2010
USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development research professor Adam Rose and postdoctoral research associate Dan Wei have found that the implementation of the Michigan Climate Action Plan could do more than battle global warming. It could also give a much-needed boost to the state's economy -- creating a projected net increase of 129,000 jobs, a $25 billion net gain in the Gross State Product.
January 11, 2009
Peter Robertson was one of three USC professors who have been selected as Fulbright Scholars for 2009-10. Robertson spent four months in Brazil, where his research focused on the development of a network of people and organizations interested in promoting the sustainable development of tourism in Rio de Janeiro.
December 21, 2009
With California facing a historic financial crisis, citizens statewide are looking for answers. On Nov. 12 at USC's Galen Center, some were offered and others refuted at a public forum of top policy advisers, academics and government officials. This was the inaugural event in the USC Critical Issues Forum, a new series sponsored in partnership between the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development and the USC Office of Government and Community Relations.
December 18, 2009
La Opinion noted that Professor Dowell Myers participated in a national teleconference on immigration reform. Myers said that immigration reform drives the development of countries. Latinos are major buyers of housing in California, he noted.
December 15, 2009
The Wall Street Journal featured research by SPPD Professor Richard Green that offers recommendations for the government on handling Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The paper, which was completed for Genworth Financial Corp. and written with a former Freddie Mac executive, advises that the government play a continued role in the mortgage market by guaranteeing issues of securities backed by certain mortgage products. "While the charge of 'too big to fail' is hardly unique to the government-sponsored enterprises, it is a legitimate concern. The challenge is how to get the volume that is required for liquidity with less concentration and lower risk," the paper stated. Time also cited the report. Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
December 11, 2009
The Los Angeles Times ran an op-ed by SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid about the Black List, in which industry insiders compile a ranking of the year's most talked-about unproduced screenplays. "In the Byzantine and often opaque business of filmmaking, the list of about 100 scripts also provides guidance in an increasingly risk-averse industry. This year has seen an upsurge in expensive box-office bombs, and DVD revenue continues to decline. In such a business climate, a list of scripts highly praised and ranked by industry heavyweights offers an invaluable guide," Currid wrote. "But there's a problem. Most of the scripts turned into movies from past Black Lists have been commercial disappointments, highlighting the disconnect between Hollywood elites' personal tastes and those of ordinary moviegoers."
December 10, 2009
The Los Angeles Times featured the USC Casden Real Estate Economics Forecast, which determined that Southern California's industrial real estate markets may improve next year, but that the office market should continue to be painful for owners. "Heightened traffic at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will create more jobs and an increased need for warehousing across Southern California," said Tracey Seslen of the USC Marshall School. Los Angeles Daily News quoted Richard Green of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate about the study results. Green said that even though Riverside and San Bernardino counties have some of the highest unemployment rates in the country, "companies located in coastal areas will be setting up satellite offices in the Inland Empire, where there is sufficient land and cheaper rental rates."
December 5, 2009
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Richard Green of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate will be the keynote speaker at Report on the Region conference at MiraCosta College in Oceanside, Calif., this week.
December 4, 2009
Bloomberg News quoted SPPD Professor Richard Green about banks accepting short sales in greater numbers. Banks are increasing such sales under pressure from the Obama administration and lawmakers who criticized them for favoring foreclosures, Green explained. "It's really finally dawning on banks that they're better off with a short sale," he said. "I think banks were in denial." Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
December 4, 2009
Speaking before an audience of more than 100 at the California Chamber of Commerce in Sacramento, Professor Dowell Myers of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, discussed how the history and future of Prop. 13 are headed in divergent directions. The lecture, "Demographics of Proposition 13: Rewriting the Old Script for a New Future," was part of the Critical Issues in Public Policy series at the USC State Capital Center.
November 30, 2009
SmartMoney quoted SPPD Professor Richard Green in a story about the Federal Reserve's program to buy $1.25 trillion in mortgage-backed securities, which seems to have stabilized the housing market but is scheduled to expire in March 2010. "The question is: Are they really going to stop the program next year?" said Green, director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
November 27, 2009
The Los Angeles Times quoted SPPD Senior Fellow Richard Little in a story about slow progress on green jobs in California, despite targeted federal stimulus funding. The real effect will probably be seen in the first quarter of 2010, as projects move from the planning stage to implementation, said Little, who directs the USC Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy.
November 24, 2009
KPCC-FM's Patt Morrison interviewed SPPD Professor Richard Green about contradictory numbers about the U.S. housing market. "One thing that has happened over the last five or six months is prices seem to have stabilized," Green said. "We aren't seeing these huge declines -- 20 percent, 25 percent year-over-year declines -- that we were a year ago. And so that reflects that there's some real stabilization in the overall housing market."
November 24, 2009
CBS Evening News interviewed SPPD Professor Richard Green for a story about homeowners who owe more money on their houses than the houses are worth. "For people who want to move in order to find a job, they find themselves really stuck," said Green,director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
November 6, 2009
The Sacramento Bee quoted SPPD Professor Dowell Myers about the market for expensive homes that aging baby boomers might want to sell when they retire. Myers said that California's always-dependable supply of homebuyer migrants from cold climates is no longer assured. The story reported that birthrates in Mexico have fallen, meaning fewer arrivals from the south. In 2002, native-born Californians became a majority of the state's population for the first time in modern history, Myers noted.
November 5, 2009
The Los Angeles Times quoted SPPD Professor Richard Green in a story stating that the commercial real estate industry is expected to hit bottom in 2010. Green said that real estate industry leaders who are meeting at the Urban Land Institute's annual gathering in San Francisco are more optimistic than they were at this time last year, because they can see the reckoning finally on the horizon. Green, who directs the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, added that he isn't sure whether bankers will do what he thinks they should. "One thing that is worrisome is that banks are still delusional," he said, adding that they are extending weak loans while hoping for a turnaround that will preserve older, higher property values.
November 5, 2009
The Los Angeles Times quoted SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid in an article about real estate agents holding public open houses for homes valued at more than $10 million. Currid said that having people going through desirable properties has a positive spillover effect. "It's like gallery openings. The art may not be bought on the walls, but it bumps up people's interest. You are generating buzz," Currid said. "Yes, you take the risk of real estate tourists showing up at a $25-million open, but the flip side is those people may start thinking about their own homes. You plant the seed that it is worth it to look at the real estate market again."
November 5, 2009
KPCC-FM's "AirTalk" interviewed SPPD Professor Richard Green on the federal government extending tax credits for first-time homebuyers and making current homeowners eligible for a credit when buying a new home. "When you're talking about people in the $500,000 to $800,000 price range, they're already getting an awfully large tax benefit, which is the mortgage interest deduction," Green said. "The tax credit seems kind of trivial in piling on in that part of the marketplace." Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
November 2, 2009
USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development alumna Anupama Mann recently received the Gill-Chin Lim Award for the best dissertation on international planning for her thesis, "A Megaproject Matrix: Ideology, Discourse and Regulation in the Delhi Metro Rail." The award is given by the Global Planners Educators Interest Group at the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning.
October 28, 2009
The USC Center for Economic Development was awarded a two-year $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration to broaden the scope of the center's applied research and outreach initiatives. The center is housed at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development.
October 21, 2009
The Los Angeles Times quoted Professor Richard Green on how banks are responding to government pressure to scale back repossessions of troubled properties. "I don't think people are saying it to each other, but they're seeing it's in nobody's interest to have mass foreclosures," said Green, director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
October 17, 2009
The Orange County Register ran a Q&A with Stan Ross of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate on the commercial development industry, which has suffered from defaults and bankruptcies. "The commercial sector has not yet fully seen the impact of illiquidity in the capital markets. As a result, we haven't seen the full magnitude of defaults or foreclosures yet in the marketplace," Ross said. "Some of these institutions that were holding or buying these securities will run into some serious problems with respect to liquidity and capital requirements. They will either have to be restructured, taken over or look for new equity capital to continue on. The impact on the economy could be a further loss of some institutions and a continued slowdown of new development."
October 17, 2009
The Bakersfield Californian quoted Richard Green of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate in an article about first-time homebuyers. Green said that banks don't have the staffing capacity to move a lot of inventory through the foreclosure process quickly, particularly when properties are owned by investors with competing liens. He added: "Appraisers are scared to death of getting sued if a home turns out to be worth less than they said, so they're being extremely conservative."
October 15, 2009
The New York Times cited SPPD Professor Richard Green about U.S. foreclosure filings, which climbed to a record high in the third quarter as lenders seized more properties from delinquent borrowers. "The problem is prime loans going into foreclosure and people being underwater and losing their jobs," Green said in a Bloomberg News story. "It's a really bad number." Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
October 14, 2009
The Los Angeles Times quoted Professor Richard Green about the Southern California housing market, which last month in some areas showed an increase in median home sale prices for the first time since 2007. "I think prices are fundamentally at a bottom," said Green, who the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate. "There could be some weakness in the next year that brings things back down a little bit. I wouldn't be jumping for joy yet, but these numbers are not bad."
October 7, 2009
The Ventura County Star quoted Professor Richard Green in a story about experts predicting a gain in the California housing market in 2010. Green, who directs the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, said he is 70 percent sure the housing market is at the bottom and is expecting the market to move along with relatively little change in sales and median price for a couple of years. The positives should outweigh the negatives next year, but "I don't expect to see a boom any time soon," he said.
September 30, 2009
La Opinion quoted Professor Richard Green and cited research by Professor Dowell Myers in a story about Proposition 13, which limits property tax rates. Most economists and experts agree that property tax is a less regressive option compared with sales tax, said Green, who is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate. Myers, who has studied the subject, said that Proposition 13 needs reform because new generations will buy homes at higher prices and pay more taxes than previous generations. Young people will subsidize those who paid less for older homes, he explained.
September 28, 2009
The Riverside Press-Enterprise featured a report by Professor Dowell Myers on Proposition 13, which limits property tax rates for existing homeowners. Myers wrote that Proposition 13 has typically worked against newer homeowners, who have had to pay thousands of dollars a year more in property taxes than neighbors who have owned similar homes for several decades. Myers added that the pain is worst for the two million Californians who bought houses during the price bubble between 2003 and 2007, then saw the price of their property tumble by about 40 percent.
September 27, 2009
New York quoted SPPD Assistant Professor Jenny Schuetz about street-level commerce in the Union Square area of New York City. Schuetz said that the Greenmarket, a weekly farmers market, acts as a destination that attracts people who are likely to make a day of it, shopping for shoes or clothes, having coffee or lunch, maybe going to the movies beforehand. "Once you have the stalls set up for this type of open-air shopping, people are more likely to see the little businesses on the periphery as extensions of a larger market," Schuetz explained.
September 26, 2009
The Orange County Register quoted SPPD Associate Professor Christian Redfearn about the economic factors that are keeping the real estate market bottom at bay. "[There] is the sharp distinction between activity at the low and high ends of the market. At the low end, financing is available. For example, I heard from a developer in Beaumont that he'd had a successful sale of new homes, but that all of the buyers were FHA borrowers. There are no parallel programs for jumbo mortgages on higher end homes," Redfearn said.
September 25, 2009
A USC study has found a good reason to check the expiration date on market foods. Researchers, working with residents in lower-income areas of Los Angeles, counted at least one expired poultry, beef or dairy product in about a third of the store visits made over a one-year period. USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development professor LaVonna Lewis presented some of the project's data at the 2009 California REACH US Conference.
September 24, 2009
Dana Goldman, a widely respected expert in health economics, has been named director of the new Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at USC, according to an announcement from USC Executive Vice President and Provost C. L. Max Nikias. Goldman most recently served as director of the RAND Corp.'s Health Economics, Finance and Organization Division.
September 23, 2009
A major new research center focused on health policy and economics has been established at USC, Executive Vice President and Provost C. L. Max Nikias announced. The center is funded by a $1.2 million operating gift from health care industry leader Leonard D. Schaeffer and his wife, Pamela. The Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics is a collaboration between the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development and the USC School of Pharmacy.
September 19, 2009
The Orange County Register ran a Q&A with SPPD Professor Richard Green on how the aging of housing in the Los Angeles area impacts the housing market. "Some of the areas with this [older] housing have already been redeveloped, but a drive immediately west of USC and east of downtown reveals lots of redevelopment opportunities," Green said. "If governments are serious about Transit Oriented development, we will see denser redevelopment along the Gold Line that is about to open, and the Exposition Line that is scheduled to open next year." Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
September 16, 2009
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development hosted members of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce this summer in the first stop of the Texas delegation's three-day Los Angeles tour aimed at exchanging information with local civic leaders and experts.
September 16, 2009
Los Angeles Downtown News featured the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate's launch of its new blog, which will focus on trends in finance, urban planning and policies shaping residential and commercial real estate markets worldwide. The center "is responding to a need from real estate decision makers who increasingly turn to social media sites to help them track rapid swings in the global property markets," said Richard Green, director and chair of the Lusk Center.
September 14, 2009
The Wall Street Journal cited an op-ed that Professor Richard Green wrote on the new Lusk Center blog. In a post on the economic obsolescence of large homes, Green wrote that falling incomes could push large-home values below the original construction cost of these homes. With fewer people able to afford larger homes, demand for them may be disappearing or undergoing economic depreciation, he explained. Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
September 11, 2009
American Public Media's "Marketplace" interviewed Associate Professor Darius Lakdawalla about the hidden costs of employer-provided health care. "They'll go to the drug store, they'll get charged 20 bucks or 40 bucks for their prescriptions. Those kinds of things employees are going to tend to know about," Lakdawalla said. "Oftentimes, they don't really know how much the employer is paying for the health insurance premium." Lakdawalla is director of research at the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics.
September 11, 2009
MarketWatch quoted SPPD Professor Richard Green about the tax credit for first-time home buyers, which will expire at the end of November. "In terms of how effective it is, I don't think it does any harm at this point," said Green, noting that the number of first-time home buyers is limited. "It's pushing sales forward that would have happened anyway. You're giving money to people who were going to buy anyway." Green is director and chair for the USC Lusk Center of Real Estate.
September 10, 2009
The Wall Street Journal featured research by SPPD Professor Dowell Myers. The study found that California's falling home prices have widened the generational wealth gap created by the state's Proposition 13, which limited property tax rates. According to the research, people who recently bought homes have suffered the greatest loss of housing value but are getting the least tax relief. The study concluded that if the price of California property stays depressed for a while, the most recent buyers will suffer the most.
August 21, 2009
CBS Evening News interviewed USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development Professor Richard Green about recent gains in existing home sales. Nationwide, home sales jumped seven percent, marking the fourth consecutive month that sales increased, the story noted. "I wouldn't be standing up and cheering yet. But things are better than they were six months ago. There's no question about that," he said. Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
August 12, 2009
The Los Angeles Wave reported that SPPD Clinical Professor Leonard Mitchell has been appointed to the newly formed 26th District Workforce Development Task Force. The task force is devoted to creating at least 10,000 new jobs in the district by the end of 2011. Mitchell heads the USC Center for Economic Development, the story noted.
August 12, 2009
Minnesota Public Radio's "Midmorning" interviewed Professor Richard Green about changing attitudes toward homeownership amid the recession. "I think if you look 10 years ago or so, people did not particularly look at their house as a way to get rich. They looked at it as a place to live," Green said. "My guess is we're going to reset back to where we were sometime before the late 1990s." At the moment prices have come down so much and interest rates are so low that it's a good time to buy, he added. Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
August 3, 2009
In his new role as assistant secretary for policy development and research at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, USC's Raphael Bostic will face a huge task: helping policymakers come up with ways to bring stability back to the nation's housing market. Bostic, a professor at the School of Policy, Planning, and Development, was sworn into his new government position on July 16.
July 30, 2009
The Huffington Post quoted Professor Dowell Myers about demographic changes in the housing market. Myers has pointed to a huge sea change in the ratio of buyers and sellers that will put downward pressure on housing values over the next two decades, the story stated. "The baby boom generation has pushed up housing prices over the past three decades, as they steadily moved up the ladder and bought housing," he said. "So people think the last three decades are normal. But at some point boomers will start to cash out."
July 28, 2009
Bloomberg News quoted Professor Richard Green about recent positive housing market numbers. "June is a month that requires a seasonal adjustment," Green said. "You have to be a little bit careful about what the June numbers alone mean. If we see this kind of thing for another four months, perhaps we know we might have something." Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
July 27, 2009
A comprehensive study spearheaded by the USC-based Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE) has determined that the economic impacts of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack were actually less severe than previously estimated.
July 25, 2009
NBC Nightly News interviewed Senior Fellow Sherry Bebitch Jeffe of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development about California's budget deal. "This budget deal is, to some extent, created with chicken wire and chewing gum -- one-time fixes, accounting gimmicks." Jeffe said.
July 24, 2009
MSNBC quoted SPPD Senior Fellow Sherry Bebitch Jeffe about the California budget deal, which includes a plan to delay June 30 state employee paychecks by one day so they are paid during the next fiscal year. "It doesn't close the deficit," Jeffe said. "Are they going to next year shift the last paycheck over again? That doesn't solve the problem." This was an Associated Press story.
July 21, 2009
The Los Angeles Times quoted Professor Richard Green about the failed Newhall Ranch development, a poor investment choice which cost the California Public Employees' Retirement System almost $1 billion. "I would have said that Newhall Ranch was going to be a winner," Green said. "If I thought that at the time, criticizing others for doing the same would be unfair."
July 21, 2009
Voice of America quoted SPPD Senior Fellow Sherry Bebitch Jeffe about California's budget deal. The compromise budget provides an immediate fix for the budget shortfall, but doesn't address systemic, long-term problems, Jeffe said. "[This is] bandaids and chicken wire, and we will be back facing this dilemma again," she predicted. "We are no closer, quite frankly, to solving this economic crisis, than we were when the budget was first declared out of balance."
July 16, 2009
Bloomberg News quoted Professor Richard Green about U.S. foreclosure filings reaching a record 1.5 million. "People are losing their jobs, seeing their income go down and are underwater on their mortgage," Green said. "It's a toxic combination." Green was also cited by the Washington Independent. Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
July 14, 2009
As the U.S. Congress considers enacting historic "cap and trade" legislation, a new book by research professor Adam Rose provides valuable lessons and reference points in evaluating the economic impacts of climate change policy. Rose is considered to be one of the preeminent scholars in the field, and the book - The Economics of Climate Change Policy: International, National and Regional Mitigation Strategies - represents much of his 20 years of research and involvement in policy design on the many aspects of the subject.
July 14, 2009
NBC Nightly News interviewed SPPD Senior Fellow Sherry Bebitch Jeffe about the California budget crisis. "[T]he eighth largest economy in the world is unable to borrow, is unable to pay its bills, and that will have an impact not only on the state economy, but on the national economy and on the global economy," Jeffe said.
July 9, 2009
SmartMoney quoted Associate Professor Gary Painter in a story on lowering one's property tax amid the recession. If your assessment is based on a higher valuation from several years ago - for example, before 2005, the height of the real estate boom - it may be a good time to get it reassessed, Painter advised. Painter is director of research at the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
July 9, 2009
City News Service featured a new report from USC's Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events. The study found that the economic impact of the September 11 attacks was far less than original estimates, at $35 billion to $109 billion, rather than $500 billion. "This is the most comprehensive study to date on the economic impacts of 9/11, and it can be applied towards future planning and preparation in the event of future terrorist attempts," said SPPD Research Professor Adam Rose, the center's coordinator for economics. "It shows that Osama bin Laden's policy strategy to damage the U.S. economy was short-lived in its effects due to the resiliency of the U.S. economy."
July 5, 2009
The New York Times highlighted SPPD alum Hilda Solis and her unique road to becoming Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor. After overcoming many obstacles, Solis, MPA '81, a former four-term congresswoman, has become the first Hispanic woman to serve as a cabinet member, the story noted.
June 28, 2009
The Las Vegas Review-Journal quoted SPPD Senior Fellow Richard Little about a proposed high-speed train from Southern California to Las Vegas. Some have criticized the plan for locating the terminus in Victorville, 80 miles from Los Angeles, the story noted. "I don't think the Victorville connection is anybody's first priority for doing California's high-speed rail," he said. Little is director of the USC Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy.
June 27, 2009
The Los Angeles Times quoted Professor Richard Green about the possibility of debt forgiveness for homeowners whose properties are underwater. Green favors debt-for-equity swaps, in which mortgages are refinanced to turn a percentage of the homeowner's loan in to an equity stake for the lender. The need for such strategies is chronic, particularly in places like Riverside County, he said. Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
June 25, 2009
BusinessWeek quoted SPPD Professor Richard Green in a widely carried story about bank stocks. Even properties on which borrowers made 30 percent down payments are underwater where property values are down 33 percent to 40 percent, Green noted. "On one hand, regional banks don't want to foreclose and have the property on their balance sheet. On the other hand, everyone's capital-constrained, so they don't want these loans they were planning to be rid of to hang around on their balance sheet because then they can't make new loans." Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
June 16, 2009
Borsen (Denmark) featured Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid and her research on artists' economic contribution to urban areas. In her book "The Warhol Economy: How Fashion, Art and Music Drive New York City," Currid warns that the rising cost of living in New York is driving out artists who are essential to the city. If new waves of young artists can't afford to move to the city, in a few decades it won't be the culturally interesting place it is now, Currid said. A second Borsen (Denmark) story also featured Currid's work.
June 14, 2009
BBC Radio's "Americana" interviewed SPPD Senior Fellow Sherry Bebitch Jeffe about the economic and political crises in California. "I hate to use this little cliche, but it is the perfect storm," Jeffe said. "It is the state's economy going in the tubes, it is the national economy going in the tubes, it is what we call 'ballot box budget,' the absolute rigid partisanship, and the meanness that you see up in Sacramento."
June 12, 2009
The Wisconsin State Journal featured the keynote speech by Professor Richard Green at the conference "Housing Outlook 2010: Continued Crisis or Recovery?" "Finding the bottom is really key to getting out of this mess and I do think we're close," Green said. "The long-term outlook for housing is very positive." Green is Director and Chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
June 8, 2009
The Cleveland Plain Dealer noted that SPPD Professors Richard Green and Raphael Bostic will speak at a Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Community Development Summit titled "Credit, Capital, and Community Building in Transitional Times." Green is Director and Chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
June 5, 2009
The Los Angeles Times quoted Professor Richard Green about current property values. "If you get away from the coasts, houses are cheap," Green said. In inland areas, some houses are selling for less than construction costs, he noted. Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
June 5, 2009
The Los Angeles Downtown News quoted SPPD Distinguished Fellow Stan Ross about a proposed condo tower in L.A.'s downtown. Depending on how quickly the project moves forward, the developer may have to provide a large portion of the project's construction budget up front, Ross said. Due to the current frozen credit market, the developers are unlikely to get traditional financing, he added. Ross is chairman of the board for the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
May 23, 2009
The Cape Cod Times cited a report by Professor Dowell Myers regarding a potential labor shortage as the baby boom generation retires. Over the next 20 years, the number of retirees relative to the number of working-age Americans will increase by 67 percent, according to Myers.
May 20, 2009
The Los Angeles Times quoted Professor Richard Green about many homeowners keeping their properties in the hopes that prices will eventually rise. "Until those people are forced to sell, they're not going to," Green said. "That might change if lots of high-income people lose their jobs," he added. Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
May 19, 2009
La Opinion quoted SPPD Senior Fellow Sherry Bebitch Jeffe about California's perennial budget woes. It's become apparent that the state has been ungovernable for a while now, Jeffe said. "When was the last time we had an effective governor?" she asked.
May 16, 2009
The San Antonio Express-News cited Professor Dowell Myers about demographics and the future of Social Security. The ratio of retired persons to workers will "compound to a 67 percent growth over the 20-year period," Myers said. "The implications for mass retirements and the struggle for replacements in the work force are profound as well," Myers wrote in his book Immigrants and Boomers: Forging a New Social Contract for the Future.
May 16, 2009
The Los Angeles Times quoted Professor Dowell Myers about slowing immigration to outlying areas of Los Angeles. The change is a "temporary pause," and immigration will probably rise again as the economy recovers, Myers said. "Immigrants always respond to the economy," he explained. "The boom and bust cycle is totally normal."
May 14, 2009
The San Francisco Chronicle quoted Professor Dowell Myers about demographic changes afoot in California. "California is aging as the rest of the country is, but it's ahead of the curve in diversity and behind the curve in aging, and that's our big advantage," Myers said. "We have a more useful workforce, and we have more young people in school. That costs more money up front, but it will repay huge benefits in 10 years when the rest of the country has few young people."
May 9, 2009
La Opinion quoted SPPD Senior Fellow Sherry Bebitch Jeffe about the vicious circle of California's budget crisis. If the state doesn't pay its contractors, people won't receive their salaries, and therefore won't spend money, and the state won't receive its sales tax revenue, worsening the fiscal situation, Jeffe explained.
May 8, 2009
KPCC-FM's "AirTalk" interviewed Professor Richard Green about the relationship between real estate brokers and appraisers. "One of the things that let us down the road that we went down was the relationship between the brokers and the appraisers," said Green, who directs the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate. "The brokers had every incentive to get the loan done, not to make sure the loan performed properly, because they were compensated based on originations, not on loan performance; so the last thing they wanted is an appraiser to get in the way of the deal."
May 7, 2009
The San Diego Union-Tribune quoted Professor Chet Newland about best practices in city contracting. Cities should thoroughly check applicants for such positions, Newland said. "You have to go beyond the mere listed references and investigate," he noted. "Contracting is one of the most crucially important and sensitive parts of government. It's essential to have utmost integrity in contracting."
May 6, 2009
Reuters noted that SPPD Senior Fellow Richard Little spoke at the Reuters Infrastructure Summit about a possible national infrastructure bond fund. Little's idea for such a fund seemed odd to officials in Washington a year ago, he said. Now they are giving it a second look, in light of the trillions of dollars in infrastructure work the U.S. may require in coming decades, Little added. "Why not create a vehicle where the federal government could issue infrastructure bonds?"
May 2, 2009
The Age (Australia) quoted Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid about the fading luster of the Hummer car brand. "In the 2000s, we saw the Hummer as the epitome of glamour and excessive living," Currid said. "Now, if they're not scorned, they're laughed at. I think the Hummer is considered quite gauche among the set that used to drive them."
April 29, 2009
Elizabeth Currid, assistant professor at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, presented her paper, "The Geography of Buzz: Art, Culture and the Social Milieu in Los Angeles and New York," during a recent research seminar at Lewis Hall. The paper was co-authored by Sarah Williams, director of the Spatial Information Design Lab at Columbia University.
April 28, 2009
The New York Times featured a new report by Dowell Myers called "The New Homegrown Majority in California." Myers and colleagues found that for the first time in California's modern history, a majority of young people in the state were born here, the story reported. More than 70 percent of 15-to-24-year-olds living here in 2007 were native born, while almost two-thirds of 45-to-54-year-olds were born elsewhere, as were about 61 percent of those aged 35 to 44 and some 54 percent of those aged 25 to 34. "It's a watershed moment," Myers said. "There has been so much focus on immigrants, on outsiders. Now we have all these insiders. These are people who carry the future, and they're mostly homegrown."
April 23, 2009
The The Riverside Press-Enterprise quoted Professor Glenn Melnick about hospitals' dependence on Medicare reimbursements. On average, about 55 percent of a hospital's revenue comes from federal reimbursements, Melnick said. A hospital that loses Medicare funding is also likely to lose private insurance contracts, the other main source of hospital revenue, the story noted. "That is usually a death knell for a hospital," he said.
April 17, 2009
The Baltimore Sun cited Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid in a story on government spending on the arts. Writing on USC's "Politics and Society" Web site, Currid urged the Obama administration to spend more money on the arts, the story noted.
April 15, 2009
Appearing on a panel at the Financial Times' Asia Infrastructure Summit, Richard Little addressed the question of whether private investment in infrastructure could be Asia's highway to economic growth. Little is a senior fellow at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development and director of the Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy.
April 15, 2009
The Los Angeles Times quoted Professor Richard Green about the merger of homebuilder giants Pulte Homes and Centex. "What this says is that companies are desperate to cut overhead right now," Green said. "I see this as a good, cost-saving move for both companies."
April 9, 2009
Xinhua News Agency (China) featured the latest USC Casden Real Estate Economics Forecast, which was released by the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate. The report found that rent prices fell across much of Southern California. "The dramatic changes in the economy are taking their toll on landlords, who are lowering rents or giving concessions just to keep their units occupied," said Delores Conway of the Lusk Center, who directs the forecast.
April 8, 2009
American Public Media's "Marketplace" interviewed Associate Professor Gary Painter about Pulte Homes buying rival homebuilder Centex. One advantage of the merger is that by cutting costs, it will facilitate building up cash reserves, the story noted. "Because there's not the same sort of credit available that there obviously used to be, it'll put them in a position to acquire inventory of land for the long term," Painter explained. And acquiring land in the right places will make all the difference, he said.
April 7, 2009
The New York Times featured "The Geography of Buzz," a study co-authored by Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development. The study delineates cultural hot spots based on geo-markers of events such as film and television screenings, concerts, fashion shows, gallery and theater openings. Currid and colleague found that "buzziest" areas in New York were around Lincoln Center and Rockefeller Center, and along Broadway from Times Square into SoHo. In Los Angeles, the "buzziest" areas were in Beverly Hills and Hollywood, along the Sunset Strip. The story included a multimedia graphic of the study's findings.
March 24, 2009
As the Obama administration prepares to disperse economic stimulus money for infrastructure, a timely new book sheds light on special districts -- the "shadow governments" that will be responsible for spending a large portion of these funds. In her book, Paying the Toll, Louise Nelson Dyble, associate director for research at the Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, documented how the bridge district grew from well-intentioned public corporation with bipartisan support to notorious organization rife with corruption.
March 23, 2009
CNBC quoted Professor Richard Green about a resurgence in conservative lending practices. Lenders have returned to the "gold standard" of requiring 20 percent down for loans not insured by the Federal Housing Administration, Green said. "We are seeing some lenders asking for 25 percent down," he added. "It used to be, if you had a [credit] score of 680 or above you were considered very good quality credit, and you'd get the best pricing," Green added. But as lenders have gotten more careful, the bar for that top tier is higher. "Now you'll pay 1 percent more than someone with a 760."
March 18, 2009
With cargo flow down about one-third since last year, port stakeholders packed the 10th METRANS Town Hall meeting on March 11 in Long Beach. More than 1,000 people, including longshore workers, terminal operators, logistics providers and elected officials, attended the event. The topic was how to make the San Pedro Bay ports competitive and protect high-paying local jobs.
March 15, 2009
The Los Angeles Daily News quoted SPPD Senior Fellow William Fulton about slumping auto sales tax revenue as a result of declining car sales. In all likelihood, many dealerships across the nation will go out of business, Fulton said. "I do believe we're going to end up with maybe ... half as many dealerships as we have now," Fulton said. Consumers are doing their car shopping on the Internet and are more willing to buy from no-haggle sellers far outside of their city's borders, if that's where the best deals are, he explained.
March 13, 2009
The Ventura County Star quoted SPPD Senior Fellow Richard Little about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which authorized $787 billion in federal stimulus spending. While the package was touted as an investment in infrastructure, some officials and analysts are disappointed with the amount that ended up being set aside for such projects, according to the story. The stimulus act is "a great bait-and-switch," Little said. "The whole thing was that this was all about infrastructure, and $50 billion isn't chump change, but it's not what the country needs," Little said. "I find that troubling. I think people were expecting maybe $200 billion or $300 billion for infrastructure." Little is director of the USC Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy, the story noted.
March 13, 2009
The Wall Street Journal quoted Professor Raphael Bostic about how the redevelopment of downtown Los Angeles is faring in the current economy. While troubles facing downtown may reflect economic headwinds that have battered real estate nationally, some experts believe that downtown has also suffered from too many high-priced developments, the story stated. "The price points that were projected aren't sustainable," Bostic said. "The prices you have to charge now make the returns relatively unattractive."
March 6, 2009
National Public Radio interviewed SPPD Senior fellow Richard Little about President Obama's infrastructure stimulus plan, which designates tens of billions of dollars for so-called "shovel-ready projects." Little, director of the USC Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy, discussed the impact of those projects on the nation's economic crisis and decaying infrastructure. "Essentially, it's projects that can be gotten underway within 120 days, meaning they are out to bid and ready to proceed," Little said. "The emphasis is on getting people to work and spending money," he added.
March 6, 2009
La Opinion quoted Professor Glenn Melnick about Los Angeles' Pacific Hospital reportedly seeking bankruptcy protection. If the hospital closes, 80 percent of patients who receive care under public assistance programs like MediCal would have to move elsewhere in the San Fernando Valley for services, Melnick said.
February 25, 2009
The Los Angeles Times ran the second and third parts of the "Dust-Up" debate featuring SPPD Professor Richard Green. "A cram-down is a court-ordered reduction of the secured balance due on a home mortgage loan," Green wrote in the first story. "Basically, it reduces lenders' collateral to the current value of the house, which is determined with an appraisal. That said, I worry about the impact of cram-downs on the ability of borrowers to get mortgages going forward." In the second Los Angeles Times story, Green recommended a plan to reduce the principal owed in home loans. "I think policymakers are worried that writing down principal will give borrowers something for nothing. But the same is true for reducing payments via a subsidized interest rate," he wrote. "We could help deal with the fairness problem by having a claw-back provision for borrowers whose loans are modified."
February 24, 2009
The Los Angeles Times ran an op-ed by Professor Richard Green as part of a "Dust-Up" debate series on President Obama's mortgage plan. "I would like to see an additional feature in the Obama plan: a claw-back provision for those who get a direct mortgage subsidy from the government and then later sell at a profit," Green wrote. "If we taxpayers are going to help people remain in their houses, we should get the equivalent of partial-ownership interests in the houses we subsidize."
February 20, 2009
Fox News interviewed Professor Richard Green about homeowners who are frustrated that the government is bailing out people who took risks and not helping those who were responsible. Such frustration is justified, but the economic risk of letting millions of homeowners default on their mortgages leaves the government with little choice, Green said. "A year ago I would have been appalled at this plan," Green said. "Now I think we have to do something like this. The moral hazard argument is valid, but is trumped by the macroeconomic situation." Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
February 19, 2009
The Oregonian quoted Professor Richard Green about President Barack Obama's mortgage restructuring initiative. "It's a clever plan," Green said. "It might actually help the housing market bottom," he added. Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
February 12, 2009
USA Today quoted Professor Dowell Myers on the domestic housing slump. A record one in nine housing units is vacant, the newspaper reported. Myers said the problem goes beyond the construction frenzy that peaked in 2005. "This is a different problem," says Myers, housing demographer at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development. "It's high now because of lack of demand. Now, vacancies we see are from units that have been empty for a period of time."
February 11, 2009
Builder Magazine quoted SPPD Distinguished Fellow Stan Ross about the U.S. Treasury's recently announced recovery plan. The plan isn't necessarily an improvement over what was already in place, Ross said. The government will eventually end up guaranteeing at least some of the losses incurred by buyers and sellers of banks' toxic assets. However, the new plan has critical components that address bank capitalization and consumer lending. "This frees up capital, the banks will survive, they get new capital, they make loans to companies, and the companies invest in capital improvements," leading to more jobs created, he explained. Ross is chairman of the Board at the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
January 27, 2009
The Wall Street Journal quoted Professor Richard Green about disincentives for first-time homeowners. Rising unemployment and announcements of huge job cuts have sapped consumer confidence nationwide, discouraging some potential buyers from making a move, the story stated. "People rightly feel less secure in their future income," Green said. The housing market won't recover until the unemployment rate stops rising, he added.
January 26, 2009
Reuters quoted Professor Dowell Myers about the state of California's economy. By some accounts, the current crisis could bode well for the state's future, as problems may spur needed reorientation of the economy. "What people may think is that you can't really solve the problems in California until you totally wreck the train," Myers said. "You have to shake them up, wake them up. The outlook is very hopeful right now because this crisis is forcing a long-overdue reassessment." The story also quoted a USC graduate student on her view of the state.
January 26, 2009
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development marked its 80th anniversary by hosting a special colloquium Jan. 16 at the Davidson Conference Center. During the conference, Dean Jack H. Knott noted that SPPD remains dedicated to advancing academic theory and making a vital impact in the world.
January 20, 2009
Portfolio quoted Professor Richard Green about the silver linings of the credit crunch and housing slowdown. Until frozen markets thaw, banks won't able to fund as many projects, but that might be a good thing, the story stated. "A slowdown is creating more time to plan and tempered expectations," Green said. "Projects that do get funding will be sound, which will ultimately be good for an ailing industry."
January 20, 2009
The Orange County Register featured the latest forecast by the USC Lusk Center For Real Estate. The forecast stated that the commercial market won't grow for two years, according to the story. "[A] lack of liquidity remains the major obstacle to a recovery in the commercial real estate markets at least until the end of this year," said Stan Ross, chairman of the Lusk Center. Now would be a good time for developers in a strong financial position to buy up such building materials as wood, steel and concrete to take advantage of falling prices, said Richard Green, the Lusk Center's director.
January 18, 2009
The San Diego Union-Tribune quoted SPPD Distinguished Fellow Stan Ross about hotel real estate. "With hospitality you have lower occupancy and competition," Ross said. "Look at what you can get a room for in Vegas." Ross is chairman of the board at the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
January 14, 2009
The Los Angeles Times quoted Richard Little about plans for federal infrastructure spending. After the initial round of funding, more thought and evaluation should come into play in determining worthy projects, Little said. "But first thing, you need to get the money flowing, get your contractors working," he noted. "You need to prime the pump." Little is director of the Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy at USC, the story noted.
January 10, 2009
The Ventura County Star quoted Richard Little about how President-elect Obama's proposed stimulus funds may be channeled into "shovel-ready" infrastructure projects. "The goal of the stimulus is just to get people working, get projects going and buying materials, which will trickle down through the economy," he said. "Whether infrastructure is always the best bang for the buck, there's some debate, but there are going to be some short-term benefits." Little is director of the USC Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy.
January 6, 2009
Reuters quoted Richard Little about how President-elect Obama's proposed stimulus funds may be channeled into "shovel-ready" infrastructure projects. "We must save the patient first, then think about long-term strategy," Little said. "If the objective is to create jobs, we should focus on projects that are ready to go." Little is director of the USC Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy, the story noted.
December 24, 2008
U.S. News & World Report quoted Professor Richard Green featuring advice for prospective homebuyers. "If you're not planning on living in that house for more than three to five years, I wouldn't buy anything right now," Green said. "Nobody knows what is going to happen to prices over the next few years." Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
December 16, 2008
The New York Times published a statement on infrastructure stimulus spending, signed by SPPD's Richard Little and Mark Pisano and 24 other infrastructure experts. "A new approach is needed that establishes a new level of accountability, transparency, and economic and environmental performance for how this country invests in infrastructure projects," the experts wrote. "We should only invest in projects that achieve job creation in the short run while creating the foundation for long-term economic success and energy independence." Little is director of the USC Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy, and Pisano is a senior fellow at SPPD.
November 26, 2008
The Orange County Register featured Professor Raphael Bostic in a Q&A about the Fed's latest efforts to bolster the credit markets. "We are really in unprecedented times," Bostic said. "It's hard to know how much of a backstop you need." The Fed's move has restored some confidence, but it's unclear if it has gone far enough, he added.
November 12, 2008
Time quoted Professor Richard Green about the new plan by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to reduce mortgage payments for some homeowners who can't currently meet their monthly payments. The new program doesn't forgive principal, only defers it, which may not go very far at a time when some 18 percent of mortgage holders owe more to the bank than their house is worth, the story stated. "If all they're doing is lengthening the loan maturity, it may reduce the economic stress a little bit, but it doesn't deal with the main problem, which is you have an underwater loan," Green said.
November 8, 2008
The Los Angeles Times quoted Professor Richard Green about the fall in pending home sales in Southern California. "It's harder to get financing now than it was a year ago," said Green, director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate. "You need a 20% down payment. A year ago, it was less than 5%." Potential homebuyers are also less willing to buy now because of high unemployment rates, Green added. "With people losing their jobs and seeing their neighbors losing their jobs, they're not going to want to make the commitment of buying a house," he explained.
November 13, 2008
The Los Angeles Times quoted SPPD Associate Professor Gary Painter about financial problems facing CalPERS, California's largest public pension fund, which is losing value due to its housing investment portfolio. "It's certainly frightening for those who look forward to getting their pensions from the California system," said Painter, director of research at the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
November 4, 2008
BusinessWeek quoted Professor Raphael Bostic about what would happen if the federal government renegotiated troubled mortgages. Such a move would help put a floor under housing prices, Bostic said. "Everyone is trying to figure out where the bottom is," he explained. "People are not going think there's a bottom if they know there's a flood of distressed assets still coming up for sale." Bostic is director of the master of real estate development program at SPPD.
October, 31, 2008
Bloomberg News quoted Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid about public support of the arts. "In a time of economic turmoil, the arts is the last thing on anyone's mind, and yet it's the most important time to support the arts," Currid said. The extent to which the arts contribute to the economy is well documented, the story stated. "In Los Angeles and New York, the arts account for 5 percent of the workforce, about the same as the financial sector," Currid noted. "The artists make cities more attractive to live in and they are incredibly important for tourism. Nobody comes to New York to look at the law firms."
October 31, 2008
The Los Angeles Times cited a USC Lusk Center for Real Estate study in an op-ed. According to the study, conducted in collaboration with UCLA, the slide in home values is likely to significantly constrict spending by consumers, making it harder for the economy to rebound. "We have shown that consumers react more radically to changes in their housing wealth than to changes in the size of their bank accounts," the study's authors wrote. The Orange County Register also covered the research.
October 29, 2008
During an Oct. 21 panel hosted by the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry said that the goal of downtown's revitalization effort is to restore "the excitement of an earlier time." The changing downtown landscape was the focus of the panel discussion, which took place inside City Hall. The event was part of the SPPD Dean's Speaker Series.
October 29, 2008
Bloomberg News featured a new study by SPPD Professors Gary Painter and Raphael Bostic, along with Stuart Gabriel of the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate. The economists found that lunging home prices will cut economic growth in the U.S. more than the drop in stock prices this year. A 10 percent decline in housing wealth results in a $105 billion - or 1.2 percent - reduction in personal spending, according to the three-year study. Consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of GDP, so that drop would result in a reduction in real GDP growth of 1 percentage point, the study found. "The reason, I believe, the effects are smaller for financial wealth than for housing wealth is that people tend to view those changes in housing wealth as more permanent," Painter said. "Consumption will be impacted by the decline in housing wealth for a while," he added. The study is scheduled to be published next year in the journal, Regional Science and Urban Economics.
October 21, 2008
SPPD Professor Dowell Myers was quoted in a Wall Street Journal news story about the role that retiring baby boomers are playing in the housing market downturn. "The generational crash is when there are too many older homeowners and not enough buyers," Myers said.
October 17, 2008
The Los Angeles Times quoted Professor Richard Green about an increase in Southland office space vacancies. Landlords will keep their asking rents up as long as they can, while offering other incentives such as reduced parking prices and generous allowances to help tenants build out their office interiors, Green said. It's only when those types of inducements are no longer sufficient that property owners tend to lower rents, he added.
October 17, 2008
The Star-Ledger reported that SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid will speak at a symposium held at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. The conference will investigate how the cultural economy works, the roles of state and local government in promoting it, and how cultural advocates measure success, the article noted.
October 16, 2008
The Los Angeles Times quoted Professor Raphael Bostic about price trends in the housing market. Additional notices of default and foreclosure are expected in 2009, when a new wave of adjustable mortgages will reset, the story noted. That will continue to push down the median prices of homes statewide, possibly into 2010, Bostic said. "Prices could inch up month over month next year, but a lot of moving parts have to align in the economy for that to happen," he explained.
October 15, 2008
The Wall Street Journal quoted Professor Richard Green about how government intervention in the housing and financial markets will affect homeowners. Green said that over time, the government's rescue effort could make it easier for borrowers in high-cost markets such as California, New York and Boston to get a mortgage, by reducing rates for jumbo loans, those too big for government backing. The government needs to push mortgage companies to take advantage of the Hope for Homeowners program, which aims to put borrowers into affordable loans, but requires that they share any resulting price appreciation with the federal government, Green added. The program "pretty much gets the incentives right," he said.
October 14, 2008
A panel of preeminent financial experts, including USC faculty, weighed in with their insights on how Wall Street plunged into a tailspin -- and also how to remedy the ailing markets. "Multi-party greed" drove the downturn, says Raphael Bostic, professor at the USC School of Policy, Planning and Development.
October 3, 2008
Richard Little was quoted in the Orange County Register about how the credit crunch is affecting California's budget. The slowing economy has Wall Street shunning state and municipal bonds, which is forcing governments nationwide to cancel debt sales, the story noted. "Nobody really wants to loan a whole lot of money," Little said. "It's not a good time for anybody, really." Little is the director of the USC Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy, the story noted.
October 2, 2008
Professor Raphael Bostic was quoted in a Ventura County Star article about how the financial crisis impacts the average person. The credit crunch is affecting people's ability to get loans for homes, the story noted. "You have to be more than prime these days -- you have to be pristine," Bostic said.
September 24, 2008
An Orange County Register article featured a talk by Professor Richard Green, director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, held at a real estate law firm. Prospects for housing market recovery have improved recently, Green said. Factors that bode well for the market include a declining inventory of homes for sale, conditions that favor buying over renting, and the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the article stated. Green also spoke about studies comparing the advantages and disadvantages of home ownership in general. While homeownership inhibits mobility, which can affect the labor market, studies show that children of homeowners tend to do better than those of renters, he said.
This past summer, more than 40 master's students representing all programs of study with the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development took part in the school's international lab program, doing research in Foshan, China, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
September 8, 2008
Professor Raphael Bostic was interviewed by KFI-AM about the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac takeover. The federal government stepping in will mean more stability in the market and probably a drop in interest rates for some home loans, according to the story. "For California, it will be a good thing," said Bostic, director of the Master of Real Estate Development program at SPPD. "[W]ith the recent increase in the loan limit for Fannie and Freddie, a lot of homeowners will have access to those cheaper mortgages."
August 26, 2008
Associate Professor Gary Painter was quoted in the Ventura County Star about the housing market in Southern California. While a significant percentage of the homes sold are foreclosures, last month's uptick in sales is "encouraging nonetheless," Painter said. However, prices probably won't be heading up until 2010, he predicted. "It's still a transition time," Painter explained.
July 29, 2008
In a Los Angeles Times story, Prof. Gary Painter was quoted about the penalty for delays with Los Angeles' Grand Avenue project. The board overseeing the project approved a measure stipulating that if the project is delayed beyond February, the developer will be fined $250,000 a month. Financial penalties like this can sometimes help get projects moving, Painter said. He added that $250,000 per month seemed not a large sum of money relative to the scale of the project.
July 16, 2008
Gary Painter was quoted in a recent La Opinion story about the impact of bank mergers on consumers. In the short term, mergers can have a positive effect on the industry, in that they can prevent institutions from going bankrupt, but in the long term, it's better for consumers to have more options, Painter said. An abundance of "giants" poses dangers for the industry, he added.
July 14, 2008
Prof. Dowell Myers of was quoted in the San Diego Union Tribune about how different communities will be affected by high gas prices. Developments in more far-flung communities will experience the biggest hit first, Myers said. "Geriatric villages" replete with health clubs and art galleries will flourish in closer-in neighborhoods, as aging baby boomers demand more amenities to entice them to leave the suburbs, he said. "Firms will locate where they can recruit workers better," he added. "That's why they've already moved to the suburbs, and they may still stay out there."
June 29, 2008
Dowell Myers was quoted the USA Today about baby boomers and Latino immigrants. For a nation bracing to support 79 million baby boomers in their old age, the growing and younger population of Latinos should be viewed as economic salvation, Myers said. "Children are always a fiscal burden, yet children are also the lifeblood of every community," he explained. "What's killing Japan and threatening the economic future of Europe is that they don't have enough kids, and that's what's depriving these rural areas in America," he added. Myers is the author of Immigrants and Boomers: Forging a New Social Contract for the Future of America, the story noted.
June 21, 2008
Raphael Bostic of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate was cited in a New York Times story about the rental market. In Los Angeles, the housing market slump has begun to push up vacancies as condominiums are converted into rentals, he said. Bostic is associate director of the Lusk Center, the article noted.
May 24, 2008
Juliet Musso of was quoted by the Los Angeles Times about the city of Vallejo's filing for bankruptcy. It appears that Vallejo negotiated contracts with employees that were too burdensome when the economy slowed down, Musso said. "It's a continuation of the story of bust-and-boom cycles in California," she explained.
May 20, 2008
Prof. Gary Painter was quoted in the Ventura County Star about whether recent statistics indicate a recovery in the housing market. "It's premature to say whether the market is at a turning point," Painter said. "It's very easy, when you're in a market like this one, to have little blips here and there," he explained. Painter is director of research at the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, the story noted.
May 8, 2008
Prof. Raphael Bostic was interviewed on CNBC about rising oil prices and the housing market. Expensive fuel will negatively impact the housing market since it is linked, especially psychologically, to consumer spending and people's feelings about the economy, Bostic said. "We know that consumer spending is an important part of the economy, and it provides a benchmark for what people will decide to do in terms of major purchases," he explained. In the long term, increasing fuel costs might affect development patterns, he added. "I think [high prices is] why we're seeing a lot more interest on the part of developers to create urban central core type developments."
April 21, 2008
Prof. Dowell Myers was quoted in a Los Angeles Times story about immigration policy. This week, a USC conference will bring together former federal housing secretary Henry Cisneros and other community leaders to explore ways to help immigrants better integrate into career-oriented jobs and civic life, the story reported. "It's in the self-interest of the older generation to have immigrants here," Myers said. "Even if you don't like it, you have to ask the question: Who's going to fill your jobs, buy your homes and pay the taxes for old-age support programs?" he asked. Myers is the author of the book Immigrants and Boomers: Forging a New Social Contract for the Future of America, the story noted.
April 1, 2008
Richard Little was quoted in the San Diego Union-Tribune about San Diego considering the sale of private bonds. The funding approach is likely to rattle anyone who has been watching the credit crunch closely, Little said. "We're kind of in the midst of a shaky situation, so any kind of activity like this is going to be open to question," he explained. Little is director of the USC Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy, the story noted.
March 24, 2008
Prof. Raphael Bostic was interviewed on NBC Nightly News about the condominium market. Wider problems in the housing market have forced many new developments to halt construction or go on the auction block, the story reported. "The difficult part is that real estate is cyclical," said Bostic, associate director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate. "For most of these cities, unfortunately, their condo product came online at a time when the housing market really was weak, and condos have been really ground zero for that weakness," he explained.
March 13, 2008
Prof. Gary Painter was recently quoted in BusinessWeek about the mortgage industry. There's a need for better regulatory oversight of the information flows about mortgages, both to those investing in mortgage-backed securities and to home buyers getting the loans, Painter said. Mortgage lenders on the whole would benefit because investors would know what they are buying, which would make for a healthier industry in the long run, he added. Painter is the director of research at the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, the story noted.
March 9, 2008
A recent San Francisco Chronicle story featured research, led by Prof. Dowell Myers, regarding the potential impact of baby boomers on the housing market. Myers and USC doctoral student Sung Ryu co-authored a study warning of a "generational housing bubble" that could burst as baby boomers - who have held up housing prices since 1970 - begin to retire. "The Baby Boom generation was born over a period of 18 years, and once its sell-off commences, it could dominate the housing market for up to two decades," the researchers wrote.
An unprecedented decline in California's child population, coupled with a tidal wave of baby boom retirees, will pose significant challenges for the state's future prosperity, according to an analysis of census data released by the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health. "These trends are not yet widely recognized, but they should be a wake-up call for policymakers," said report author Professor Dowell Myers.
Imran Farooq DPPD '11 proved that he was ready for his close-up during the Oct. 24 broadcast of SOS: Sustaining Our Society, a PBS documentary based on his USC Sol Price School of Public Policy dissertation. The documentary -- available for 
October 8, 2012 
Los Angeles has a reputation of being an unplanned city, a sprawling metropolis that evolved spontaneously. Urban planners, of course, know better. USC Sol Price School of Public Policy professor David Sloane discussed his book Planning Los Angeles during a recent panel hosted by the Los Angeles chapter of the American Planning Association. For the book, Sloane enlisted more than 40 prominent essayists to detail the history, contemporary issues and current policy questions regarding planning in L.A. Two of those contributors -- Elizabeth Currid-Halkett and Ken Bernstein -- joined him on the panel to discuss their chapters and address economic development.
Laurie Nijaki, 26, earned her Ph.D. in policy, planning and development from the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy in May. But already, she's made significant contributions in the field of sustainability -- and has plans to do more. This September, Nijaki will begin a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan's Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise, widely considered the most prestigious postdoctoral opportunity in sustainability in the United States.
Faculty at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy hosted a delegation from the Chinese Academy of Governance (CAG) between May 29 and June 1 to share their research on how to develop technically feasible, politically viable and cost-effective climate strategies. The event was coordinated by USC Price Assistant Research Professor Dan Wei and USC Price Research Professor Adam Rose in conjunction with the Center for Climate Strategies. CAG is a training center for people in public service who are in mid- and high-level civil service positions at the national, provincial, and municipal levels in China.
Following decades of bipartisan consensus, federal transit policy has turned into a hot-button issue in a presidential election for the first time. Lisa Schweitzer, associate professor at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, took a look at what the various proposals and candidate positions mean for the future of U.S. infrastructure during a recent discussion. The event was part of the "Road to the White House 2012: Politics, Media and Technology," a weekly conversation series presented by USC's Bedrosian Center on Governance and the Public Enterprise, the Center on Communication Leadership & Policy, and the Unruh Institute of Politics.
The Tomas Rivera Policy Institute, housed at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, and New York University's Immigration Studies project looked at the recession's impact on immigrants in a recent conference at the Ronald Tutor Campus Center. "Immigration in the Wake of the Great Recession" offered perspectives of scholars and journalists during three panel discussions covering the immigrant experience.
The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy advanced its work of "shaping the world" during Dean Jack H. Knott's recent trip to Israel. Knott traveled in the company of USC leaders, including President C. L. Max Nikias. During the trip, Knott forged relationships with policymakers, as well as representatives from top educational institutions, to create new opportunities for collaboration. He signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, Israel's first private college.
The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy was among several USC schools and programs that ascended in the latest national rankings released by U.S. News & World Report . The Price School climbed to sixth place (from seventh in 2008) in the newest edition of "America's Best Graduate Schools" for public affairs.
USC Sol Price School of Public Policy professor Peter Gordon formally began his one-year term as president of the Western Regional Science Association last month during the association's 51st annual meeting in Kauai, Hawaii. Founded in 1961, the WRSA is an international multidisciplinary group of university scholars and government and private-sector practitioners dedicated to the scientific analysis of regions. At the annual banquet luncheon, Gordon delivered his presidential address titled "Thinking About Economic Growth."
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development brought its international expertise to the table at the 2011 USC Global Conference, held Oct. 13-15 in Hong Kong. SPPD faculty joined business experts to discuss issues of worldwide significance at the three-day event. "Most of the issues we deal with -- from health care to urban development to the environment -- don't occur just in the United States but around the world," said SPPD Jack Knott. "We incorporate that global perspective as an integral fabric into everything we do at the school."
USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development professor Richard Green testified on tax reform options and incentives for homeownership in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance. Green, director and chair of the Lusk Center for Real Estate, focused his testimony during the Oct. 6 hearing on phasing out the home mortgage interest deduction. Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the committee, asked Green to participate.
The percentage of foreign-born U.S. residents with deep roots in the country is rising and will continue to soar in the coming decades, according to a new USC report. The percentage of foreign-born residents who have lived in the United States at least 20 years climbed from 30.4 percent of the foreign-born population in 2000 to an estimated 38.5 percent in 2010; by 2030, the total is predicted to increase to 52.6 percent. "We're marking a major transformation in America," said Dowell Myers, USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development professor and co-author of the report.
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development (SPPD) has a mission to "shape the world," and more than 60 students spent their summers putting these words into action in Brazil, China, Bolivia and Australia.
How can an online game educate Californians about carbon emissions? What's the best way for the California government to prepare for the baby boomer retirement? Can private canine companies provide an effective and reasonably priced screening method to enhance airline security? These are a few of the real-world issues that USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development MPP students tackled during the 2011 Policy Analysis Practicum.
Helping Americans lead healthier and wealthier lives -- that's how USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development graduates Brooke Lykins and Mary Kuhn plan to spend their upcoming year courtesy of the Clinton-Orfalea Fellowships. The fellows will head to New York in August to work at the William J. Clinton Foundation, which addresses issues of global climate change, HIV and AIDS in the developing world, childhood obesity, and economic opportunity and development.
The nation's biggest employer - the federal government - already has snapped up four members of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development's Class of 2011. Master of public administration graduates Kristina McBoyle, Marie Mazwi and Yuliya Zingertal and MPA/master of social work graduate Juliet Bui have been selected to participate in the Presidential Management Fellowship program administered by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and designed to groom future government leaders.
Raphael Bostic, a professor at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, and Elizabeth Garrett, USC's vice president for academic planning and budget and a professor at the USC Gould School of Law, have been asked to join President Obama's administration in Washington, D.C.
February 20, 2009