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May 2007

Wharton News

Zell/Lurie Research Sponsors Golf in Merion


The Zell/Lurie Spring Members' Meeting began early for our golfers. Asuka Nakahara again hosted a round of golf at the Merion Golf Club before the Center Research Sponsors colloquium on Thursday, April 19. Despite rain earlier in the day, the weather cleared up just in time to play and they enjoyed an outstanding round of golf.

Pictured at right (l-r): Jon Weller, Andy Isikoff, Greg Wolcott of Wharton, Steven Karpf, Dave O'Connor, and Asuka Nakahara. They claim it stopped raining just in time to play.

Annual End of Year BBQ

The annual end-of-term barbeque was held once again at the Nakahara home in Merion on April 30. About 120 current students, alumni, faculty, staff and their families, enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with old friends and make new ones.

A great day for a barbeque…

…And a big pool to hang around by

Gyourko Weighs in on Subprime Mortgages

The BBC News Online (4/26) quoted Professor Joseph Gyourko in "Poor Americans hit out at mortgage claims," concerning people who get caught up in multiple costly subprime mortgages through not examining the contract closely enough or via unscrupulous lenders. "Some experts believe that any intervention in the industry would make matters worse," said the article. But Gyourko "warns of the risk of 'moral hazard'—the distortion which happens if people enter into contacts with the expectation that a bail-out may mean they do not have to honor them. 'We don't understand this very well right now, so any regulation is probably going to be wrong or imprecise,'" Gyourko said.

In CNNMoney.com (4/24) "Subprime bailouts: How they work," Gyourko commented further concerning using public money to work things out for borrowers and bad loans in Maryland, via a renegotiation program called Lifeline through the state's Department of Housing and Community Development. Gyourko noted, "There's always an opportunity cost for the taxpayer," since these bail-out funds would necessarily be taken from other public projects, such as construction of bridges or highways.

Nakahara Addresses Young Leaders

Asuka Nakahara gave a talk on Friday, April 27 to the ULI Young Leaders Group in Philadelphia about Leadership, Career, and Real Estate Decision-Making. The event was at the Pyramid Club in Mellon Bank Center, where up to 40 people heard Nakahara speak about "real estate, career and life lessons learned, and how to avoid the big mistakes."

Housing Finance Program

The IHFP's annual executive education program, "Improving and Expanding Housing Finance Systems," will be held June 4-14, and the annual "Workshop on Securitization" will take place June 16-17. For a detailed program and application forms go to the IHFP website. Drs. Marja-Hoek-Smit is leading the programs.

Rybczynski's Last Harvest: How a Cornfield Became New Daleville

Witold Rybczynski
Witold Rybczynski
Witold Rybczynski, Martin & Margy Meyerson Professor of Urbanism, School of Design of the University of Pennsylvania and professor at the Wharton School, has published a new book on real estate development: Last Harvest: How a Cornfield Became New Daleville. Kirkus Reviews describes it as "an enlightening account of American entrepreneurship, with plenty of architectural and social background." The book has been featured in the WSJ, New York Post, New York Sun, The Oregonian, USA Today, LA Times, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the Denver Post. The book has been discussed on MSNBC.com ("How Housing Developers Really Work"), and on NPR's "All Things Considered." Rybczynski has given public lectures on the subject in New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, Atlanta, Miami, Denver, and Seattle.


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