Workshop on Household balance sheets, the financial crisis, and the real economy

Since their peak in 2008, house prices plummeted by 20 percent. As a result, a substantial part of Dutch households’ wealth evaporated. Right now, one out of three homeowners has negative home equity. But the Netherlands is not unique. Households in other European countries and the US experienced large wealth shocks as well.

Wealth shocks of this magnitude have a large impact on the real economy. It could, for instance, put consumption under pressure, when households start deleveraging. Moreover, negative home equity could reduce household mobility.

How large is the effect of house price drops on the real economy? Researchers and policy makers have tried to tackle this question. This workshop combines their visions and views with state-of-the-art knowledge about household behavior in the event of wealth shocks. All of this combined in an interactive program with speakers from home and abroad.

List of speakers:

Federica Teppa (DNB) – “Consumption behavior and the financial crisis in the Netherlands”
Joep Steegmans (UU) – “The effect of decreasing house prices on household mobility”
Andreas Kuchler (Danmarks Nationalbank) – “The wealth and debt of Danish families”
May Rostom (Bank of England) – “Household debt and spending in the UK”

The workshop will take place on Tuesday June 23rd at ‘Spaces Rode Olifant’, Zuid-Hollandlaan 7, 2596 AL The Hague.

You are invited to register by email until June 17th, the email address is J.L.Verbruggen@cpb.nl.

In the email, please mention your name and organization. Also, please make sure to bring your ID (passport, ID or driver's license ) in order to enter the building.

Remco Mocking (R.J.M.Mocking@cpb.nl)
Sander van Veldhuizen (S.van.Veldhuizen@cpb.nl)