President Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” programs were a campaign to continue the domestic policy work of his predecessor, John F. Kennedy, who had been ready to initiate a number of reforms before his assassination in 1963. Johnson’s goals were to eliminate economic and racial disparities in society, leading him to pass such legislation as the Civil Rights Act in 1964. In 1965, Johnson created the Cabinet office of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, to answer the challenge of poverty and homelessness in American cities.

HUD’s stated mission is “to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all…to strengthen the housing market to bolster the economy and protect consumers; meet the need for quality affordable rental homes; utilize housing as a platform for improving quality of life; build inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination.” HUD administers or has administered a number of programs in urban markets, including financial incentives for home buyers in economically depressed communities, grants for renovation, and the provision of service workers for the elderly in order to allow them to remain in their own homes rather than be moved to a facility. They provide counseling services for new homebuyers and also function with enforcement authority regarding the Fair Housing Act, hearing and prosecuting complaints regarding housing discrimination. As a Cabinet-level department, HUD also oversees a number of other departments and corporations, including the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), which insures mortgages, and the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae), which guarantees certain loans and makes mortgages more affordable to lower-income home buyers.

HUD operates its own department of Policy Development and Research to gather and analyze the statistical data from its own programs. They are then able to revise existing programs, phase out those that are clearly ineffective, or consider options for new ones. All of the information is made available for public examination via HUD USER, a web-based resource. HUD USER also publishes four periodicals: ResearchWorks, Breakthroughs, Cityscape, and U.S. Housing Market Conditions. ResearchWorks is devoted to case studies regarding housing; Breakthroughs looks at new strategies and resources, Cityscape spotlights innovative ideas or policies that will improve urban housing programs, and U.S. Housing Market Conditions gives regional and historical synopses of specific housing markets throughout the nation.

Today, HUD has taken a central role in resolving the economic crisis, much of which was caused by housing and lending practices. The Obama administration has devoted several million dollars to HUD in order to implement foreclosure-prevention programs and offer grants for housing counseling and development. The state of the housing market has been significantly destabilized by the financial downturn, and the high rate of unemployment has created a glut of loan defaults. HUD currently works to reverse the trend of the housing market and provide avenues for all citizens to own their own homes, even in the midst of such economic turmoil.

PERL Mortgage’s Shelley Malkin is excited to offer financing for an amazing home on Glencoe’s glorious lakefront!

This historic Georgian home, built in 1895 and located at 77 Wentworth Avenue, has been lovingly restored for today’s lifestyle. Situated on 1.5 acres, this 9 bedroom, 7 bath home has it all! Elegant moldings, high ceilings, a true beauty. Inground pool, outdoor patios, tiered decks all overlooking the lake. No need to go to the marina to get your boat, just take the lift down to your exclusive 240 ft beach & boathouse.

Here’s the full photo tour!

The asking price is currently $7,500,000 for this 9,000 square foot masterpiece. For more information, contact Monica Childs (847.751.0266) or Michael Weber (847.763.0200) at @Properties — and call Shelley Malkin at 773.413.6246 for financial information!

The economy of any nation is a constantly evolving system. Decisions about financial regulation, interest rates, and a myriad of other factors can be different from one day to the next, as governments and financial professionals strive to keep the economy stable and growing. The character of the American currency is just one of several key elements of the economy. For over a century the American currency was dramatically different than the system we use now, operating on what was known as the gold standard.

The basic definition of a gold standard is that a certain weight of the precious metal gold is determined to be the set unit of currency worth—for example, an ounce of gold would be considered, for commercial purposes, to be worth $1. In the United States in the 1800s, both silver and gold were traded in this manner, creating what was called a bimetallic system—however, silver was rarely used, thereby creating a “de facto” gold standard. A true gold standard didn’t exist in the United States until 1900, when President William McKinley signed the Gold Standard Act—officially abolishing silver’s use and making gold the only redeemable method to receive paper currency.

The gold standard was in place until the Great Depression; many economists and historians blame the existence of the gold standard for both exacerbating and prolonging the Depression. The chief advantage of a gold standard is that it limits the government’s ability to induce price inflation by increasing the money supply, since all paper currency must be backed by the accepted amount of gold.

However, during the bank panics of the early 1930s, the gold standard also hindered the Federal Reserve’s best methods for preventing, and later alleviating, the economic decline. Due to the limit on the money supply, interest rates remained high and the deflationary pressure kept investment in banks low. Ultimately, this led to fears that the dollar was in danger of being devalued, causing the bank panics that heralded the start of the Depression. In 1933, President Roosevelt outlawed private ownership of gold, save as jewelry, and ordered the federal government to buy all other gold in order to aid the economic rebuilding. This policy effectively ended the gold standard in the United States.

The United States treasury, however, continued to trade in gold with other governments, using what was known as the Bretton Woods system, which allowed a fixed rate exchange for gold at $35/ounce. This practice was ended in 1971 by President Nixon, who was seeking to control government deficits related to the war in Vietnam. Acting unilaterally, in what history would later dub “the Nixon Shock,” the president declared wage and price controls, instituted an import surcharge, and ended the practice of the gold exchange. This decision had far-reaching international consequences: today, there are no longer any nations that operate on a gold standard.

In the midst of our current recession, gold has again returned to the forefront of the economic stage, with many desperate and jobless families turning to the gold market in order to make ends meet. Gold prices have slowly increased since the beginning of the downturn, and today selling one’s gold is touted as a temporary solution for those in danger of personal bankruptcy, and other companies offer to sell gold items such as coins as an investment. The long-term efficacy of such a practice, however, is doubtful. If and when the economy recovers, consumers might find themselves holding a number of suddenly undervalued gold objects, and have lost much of their initial investment.

The gold standard today tends to be viewed as a relic of a simpler economy, when the country was smaller and did not have to contend with a quick-paced, international financial market. Although the United States has left this standard behind, it’s important to understand why it existed in the first place, as well as why it was ended.