Revisiting the CRA: Perspectives on the Future of the Community Reinvestment Act

With the current financial crisis providing strong impetus for regulatory reform, a re-examination of the CRA seems both appropriate and likely. Revisiting the CRA is a timely publication intended to help frame and inform the current debate about the future of the CRA.

A joint publication of the Federal Reserve Banks of Boston and San Francisco, Revisiting the CRA: Perspectives on the Future of the Community Reinvestment Act features papers and essays from a range of informed authors and contains important new arguments about expanding CRA, the limits of CRA, and the basis for CRA.

Major topics addressed by the book include the following:

• Is the CRA still needed?
• Should CRA-like obligations be extended to other types of financial institutions?
• Should the CRA target low and moderate income people instead of geographies?
• Should race and ethnic origin be introduced as CRA considerations?
• Should the CRA focus more on the terms and price of credit, rather than mere access to credit?
• Should “process” be evaluated rather than, or in addition to, outputs?

In concert with the release of the publication, a lively discussion was held where many authors and discussants shared their views at Revisiting CRA: A Policy Discussion on February 24, 2009 in Washington, DC and audio files are available.

Please contact co-editor Prabal Chakrabarti for more information.

Entire Report (2.85MB)

Introduction

• Foreword (162KB)
  Eric Rosengren and Janet Yellen
  
• A Framework for Revisiting the CRA (252KB)
  John Olson, Prabal Chakrabarti, and Ren S. Essene
  
• The CRA and the Recent Mortgage Crisis (266KB)
  Randall Kroszner
  

Background

• The 30th Anniversary of the Community Reinvestment Act: Restructuring the CRA to Address the Mortgage Finance Revolution (279KB)
  Ren Essene and William Apgar
• The CRA Within a Changing Financial Landscape (946KB)
  Robert Avery, Marsha J. Courchane, and Peter M. Zorn

Articles

• The CRA: Outstanding, and Needs to Improve (420KB)
  Roberto Quercia, Janneke Ratcliffe, and Michael A. Stegman
• It’s the Rating, Stupid: A Banker’s Perspective on the CRA (317KB)
  Mark Willis
• The Community Reinvestment Act at 30 Years (546KB)
  The American Bankers Association
• A Tradeable Obligation Approach to the CRA (306KB)
  Michael Klausner
• The CRA: Past Successes and Future Opportunities (523KB)
  Eugene A. Ludwig, James Kamihachi, and Laura Toh
• A More Modern CRA for Consumers (313KB)
  Ellen Seidman
  
• CRA Lending During the Subprime Meltdown (469KB)
  Elizabeth Laderman and Carolina Reid

Commentary

• Expanding the CRA to All Financial Institutions (263KB)
  Liz Cohen and Rosalia Agresti
• What Lessons Does the CRA Offer the Insurance Industry? (249KB)
  Bridget Gainer
• CRA 2.0: Communities 2.0 (248KB)
  Mark Pinsky
• The CRA: 30 Years of Wealth Building and What We Must Do to Finish the Job (394KB)
  John Taylor and Josh Silver
• The CRA as a Means to Provide Public Goods (230KB)
  Lawrence B. Lindsey
• Putting Race Explicitly into the CRA (261KB)
  Stella J. Adams
• Community Reinvestment Emerging from the Housing Crisis (283KB)
  Michael S. Barr
• A Principle-Based Redesign of HMDA and CRA Data (358KB)
  Adam Rust
• The CRA: Good Goals, Flawed Concept (248KB)
  Lawrence J. White

Appendix

A Banker’s Quick Reference Guide to CRA (119KB)

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