ABI Podcast

Did BAPCPA Cause the Foreclosure Crisis
ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano talks with Dr. Donald Morgan, Research Officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, about the latter's research arguing that BAPCPA shifted risk from credit card lenders to mortgage lenders, partially helping to trigger the surge in home foreclosures. The conclusions of Morgan and his colleagues echo earlier findings that the new law's tougher requirements appear to have increased the number of people defaulting on their mortgages or walking away from their homes rather than seeking bankruptcy protection.

Should We Worry About PBGCs Debt
ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano talks with Nell Hennessy, President & CEO of Fiduciary Counselors Inc. From 1993 to 1998, Hennessey served as Deputy Executive Director and Chief Negotiator of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC) and represented the PBGC in negotiations with major corporate pension plan sponsors and unions in a wide range of industries, including auto, steel, chemical, textile and airlines. She discusses the challenges facing the PBGC amid the economic downturn and potential solutions for the agency as it faces billions of dollars in funding deficits for U.S. pensions.

Mortgage Loan Modification Options
This podcast features a discussion of residential home mortgage modification options now facing Congress. Joining ABI Executive Director Sam Gerdano are Christopher Mayer, Senior Vice Dean and Paul Milstein Professor of Real Estate at the Columbia University Business School, and Edward Morrison, Professor of Law at the Columbia Law School. Mayer and Morrison have developed a new proposal for loan modification that compensates servicers who modify mortgages and removes legal constraints that inhibit modification.

Conversation with Prof. Lois R. Lupica
ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano talks with Prof. Lois R. Lupica, the Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Professor of Law at the University of Maine School of Law. Lupica, who served as the Robert M. Zinman ABI Resident Scholar for the Spring 2007 semester, discusses A Study of Consumers' Post-Discharge Finances: Struggles, Stasis, or Fresh-Start? an article she co-wrote with Prof. Jay L. Zagorsky of Ohio State University. The study was featured in the Spring 2008 edition of the ABI Law Review.

Conversation with U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens
The latest ABI Podcast features a conversation with U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, recorded at the ABI Southwest Bankruptcy Conference on Sept. 5. Justice Stephens is the longest-serving current member of the Court, appointed by President Ford in 1975.

Conversation with Martha G. Bronitsky
Continuing the series of conversations with presidents of various prominent organizations in the insolvency community, ABI Deputy Executive Director Felicia Turner speaks with Martha G. Bronitsky, the president of the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees (NACTT). Bronitsky discusses the history of the NACTT, the NACTT Academy and some of the changes to chapter 13 trustees' practice caused by BAPCPA.

Conversation with Prof. Ronald T. Wilcox
ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano talks with Prof. Ronald T. Wilcox of the University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business Administration. Author of the recently published book, Whatever Happened to Thrift? Why Americans Don't Save and What to Do About It, Wilcox shares his views on the growing trend of consumer debt in the United States and why American's sense of thrift has diminished.

Conversation with Grant Stein
ABI Resident Scholar Jack F. Williams talks with Grant Stein, the current president of the Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Advisors (AIRA) and a partner in Alston & Bird's Bankruptcy, Reorganization and Workouts Group. Stein discusses the history and growth of the AIRA, as well as the organization's Certified Insolvency & Restructuring Advisor (CIRA) and Certification in Distressed Business Valuation (CDBV) programs.