At the beginning of this century, when tech stocks were hot and dot-coms were appearing everywhere, Yale professor and renowned economist Robert Shiller was already warning of a bubble -- and he was right. Years later, when housing prices were skyrocketing and millions of American were betting big on real estate, Robert Shiller again predicted an impending crisis. Sadly, he was right again.
Now, with the housing market showing signs of improvement, many are getting the sense that we’re finally out woods. And with this feeling returns the idea that buying a home today means financial gains down the road.
But is this true? Was the recent crisis just an exception to the otherwise reliable rule that real estate is always a good investment? Or should we be re-thinking this conventional wisdom? In the latest edition of his bestselling book, Irrational Exuberance, Robert Shiller suggests we should.
This hour, we speak with Nobel Prize winner Robert Shiller, along with University of Colorado law professor Peter Haung. They explain exactly what modern day home owners and those in the market should know about this very risky business.
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John Dankosky and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired on March 17, 2015.
GUESTS:
- Robert Shiller - Nobel Prize-winning economist and Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale University, and author of Irrational Exuberance
- Peter Huang - Professor and DeMuth Chair of Business Law at the University of Colorado, and author of the papers "Regulating Irrational Exuberance and Anxiety in Securities Markets" and "Tiger Cub Strikes Back: Memoirs of an Ex-Child Prodigy About Legal Education and Parenting"