City Road Podcast

You've probably heard about residential mortgage-backed securities and the global financial crisis. But did you know corporate mortgage-backed securities were reshaping American cities at the same time? During the Great Recession, the housing bubble took much of the blame for bringing the American economy to its knees, but commercial real estate also experienced its own boom-and-bust. "... somebody would still be interested in the building they were putting up because it was viewed less as a space and place for economic activity to take place in and more as a financial commodity" Professor Rachel Weber We're talking to Rachel Weber about her book 'From Boom to Bubble', and the role of tax increment financing and corporate mortgage-backed securities in the city of Chicago. Rachel debunks the idea that booms occur only when cities are growing and innovating. Instead, she argues, even in cities experiencing employment and population decline, developers rush to erect new office towers and apartment buildings w