Walker, Ryan to headline Graaskamp Center Conference on new partnerships between government, real estate

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan will headline a Wisconsin School of Business conference on new partnerships between government and real estate.

The New Partnerships: Government and Real Estate conference, hosted by the Graaskamp Center for Real Estate, will be held from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 9, at the Fluno Center, 601 University Ave.

Walker and Michael Knetter, president and chief executive officer of the University of Wisconsin Foundation, will be the conference’s keynote speakers.

Ryan, of Janesville, will be part of a panel focused on the budget and financial reforms along with renowned housing economist Richard Green from the University of Southern California.

In the wake of one of the worst financial crises in recent history, the federal government has revamped the U.S. regulatory architecture responsible for safeguarding the financial system. Perhaps the most influential and controversial of these reforms is the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.

This year’s conference will explore how the new regulatory landscape will affect the size and scope of activity in the real estate and financial services industries.

Some believe the new laws and regulations will curtail risk-taking necessary for innovation and growth, while others insist the legislation changes the incentives that encouraged banks and other financial-market participants deemed too big to fail to take excessive and socially undesirable risks.

The conference will include thoughts and analysis from experts from the public and private sectors, government agencies, business and academia — all of whom are on the front lines of real estate and housing market research, policy and practice.

Some questions to be explored include how will the new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection affect how real estate and finance professionals do transactions? How will new rules support buyers and sellers, lenders and borrowers? How will the proposed replacement of Fannie and Freddie affect the cost of and access to mortgage credit, and what might the secondary mortgage market of the future look like?

The conference is co-sponsored by the UW–Madison Graaskamp Center for Real Estate, Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority, the Wisconsin Department of Commerce, the Wisconsin Realtors Association and the Wisconsin Bankers Association.

More information about the 2011 Wisconsin Real Estate and Economic Outlook Conference is located at http://www.bus.wisc.edu/whc2011. The cost to attend the conference is $110 for nonprofits and $150 for corporate participants.

To receive more information or a conference brochure, contact Lee Gottschalk by phone at 608-265-2032 or lgottschalk@bus.wisc.edu.

Reporters and editors are invited to attend all or any part of the conference free of charge; press arrangements may be made through Gottschalk.