Is it possible that he’s actually saying exactly what he thinks? Maybe he is objective and independent and has just come to a differenct conclusion than you and I.

Yes, I also disagree with him, but that doesn’t necessarily make him a shill for the REIC. Let’s thoroughly tear apart his analysis and leave argumentum ad hominem to the folks on TV.

Every time I’ve been interviewed, I’m always asked how I would like to be introduced- so I’m assuming they gave Linneman the same option.

I taught undergraduate classes and worked in the herbarium at BYU while I was a graduate student there. I was also a researcher in the botany department at UC-Berkeley after I graduated. [If you ever want an interesting cross-cultural experience, try graduating from BYU on Friday, and starting work at Berkeley on Monday!]

It was clear to me as I dealt with students and members of the community, that people put a lot of trust in what I said as a consequence of my academic associations. I quickly learned that a casual opinion could be construed as absolute fact.

It’s true not everyone holds academics in that high a regard, [myself included] but enough do that I learned to be careful. I talked to enough people who probably didn’t remember my name, but did remember my university affiliation to think that there are people who will follow Linneman’s advice because of his position.

I personally think a little more emphasis on his consulting, and a little less on Wharton would have been appropriate.

Thank you for the Wharton info- I’m glad they aren’t all out to lunch.

The interviewer was the one who brought up his credentials and association with Wharton and Linneman seemed to be speaking for himself, not on behalf of the school.

I had a much different reaction to Retsinas and the Harvard JCHS, probably because the Center published its documents ostensibly under the auspices of the Harvard School of Economics.

I’m really ambiguous about the Real Estate Department at the Wharton School of Business. They seem to be hopelessly tangled up with the The Samuel Zell and Robert Lurie Real Estate Center at Wharton. That being said, there seem to be some very good people working there. One of their profs is Susan Wachter, and she seems to be excellent, often being quoted [1] in the media. Like Wachter, Peter Linneman is a full professor in the RE department, but from the evidence of this video, he must be an embarrassment to his more academically sound colleagues and a menace to the department’s prestige.

Wharton is a bit weird. Their faculty is as unaccessible as the old Soviet Politburo; much less easy to reach than, say, the Banking analysts at the American Enterprise Institute (and they are the Politburo!) Their periodic analysis pieces posted on Knowledge @ Wharton, though usually anonymous (like The Economist) tend to be most informative. A Feb 21th post (old stuff requires free registration) in their Real Estate articles section may have been the first mainstream academia piece to note the tremors in the bond markets arising out of the subprime mess.

[1]: “‘Mod Squad’ goes to work: Lender is one of several scrambling to help struggling homeowners modify terms so they don’t have to foreclose.”, by Ellen Simon, AP / Daily Breeze, April 22, 2007.

Regulators will be watching to see how many modifications succeed, said Susan Wachter, a professor of real estate and finance at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.

The scant public information on modifications makes evaluation tricky, said Thomas Lawler. The former chief economist at Fannie Mae now runs his consulting business, Lawler Economic & Housing Consulting, in Vienna, Va.

Advocates say that half the people in foreclosure never talk to their banker before losing their house, and many could rework their loans if they only got help.