June 30, 2008
A recent article by MarketWatch on CEPR’s latest report, “The Housing Crash and the Retirement Prospects of Late Baby Boomers,” was among the ten most cited articles on their website, for the week of June 23-27. The study, which was co-authored by Dean Baker and David Rosnick, analyzed the wealth holdings of families headed by people between the ages of 45 and 54 in 2004 and projected the wealth of families headed by people who will be in this age group in 2009. The findings are presented by income quintile under three scenarios- real house prices remain at current levels, real house prices fall by 10 percent, or real house prices fall by 20 percent. In all three scenarios, the vast majority of these families will have little or no housing wealth in 2009. Most importantly, this report should lead to a serious re-examination of policy proposals that would cut Social Security and Medicare for near retirees.
