moreover, even in a strong economy, unforeseen life events and risks in local real estate markets make highly leveraged borrowers vulnerable. it was ultimately very destructive when, in the early part of this decade, dubious underwriting practices and mortgage products inappropriate for many borrowers became more common. in time, these practices and products contributed to problems in the broader financial services industry and helped spark a foreclosure crisis marked by a tremendous upheaval in housing markets. now, more than 20 percent of borrowers owe more than their home is worth and an additional 33 percent have equity cushions of 10 percent or less, putting them at risk should house prices decline much further. with housing markets still weak, high levels of mortgage distress may well persist for some time to come. in response to the fallout from the financial crisis, the fed has helped stabilize the mortgage market and improve financial conditions more broadly, thus promoting economic recovery. what may be less well known, however, is what the fed has been doing at the local level. as the foreclosure crisis has intensified, federal reserve staff in our research, community development, and supervision and regulation divisions have actively collaborated to support foreclosure prevention at the local level and promote neighborhood stabilization initiatives. a key initiative developed under the leadership of federal reserve bank of chicago president charles evans has been the mortgage outreach and research effort, known as more. more involves all 12 federal reserve banks and the board of governors in a collaboration that pools resources and combines expertise to inform and engage policymakers, community organizations, financial institutions, and the public at large. the fed is particularly well suited to such an effort. our community development experts are working on the ground to promote fair and equal access to banking services and improve communities. further, federal reserve staff members are conducting empirical research on mortgage - and foreclosure - related topics, and are reaching out to industry experts as well. we are focusing on the hardest - hit cities and regions of the country. a new publication released this week offers details about the more effort. copies are available here today, and it is available online at the website of the federal reserve bank of chicago. 1 the report identifies approaches the fed has taken to mitigate the foreclosure crisis, and i ’ d like to share some highlights of that work. we have helped many of our community development partners organize day - long “ mega events ” that have served thousands of troubled borrowers. moreover, we ’ ve

, an increasing awareness, bordering in some cases on shock, that their economic model was incomplete, or worse, has arguably emerged in the region. as a consequence, many of the leaders of these countries and their economic advisors are endeavoring to move their economies much more rapidly toward the type of economic system that we have in the united states. the imf, whatever one might say about its policy advice in the past, has played an important role in this process, providing advice and incentives that promote sound money and long - term stability. the imf ’ s current approach in asia is fully supportive of the views of those in the west who understand the importance of greater reliance on market forces, reduced government controls, scaling back of government - directed investment, and embracing greater transparency - - the publication of all the data that are relevant to the activities of the central bank, the government, financial institutions, and private companies. it is a reasonable question to ask how long this conversion to embracing market capitalism in all its details will last in countries once temporary imf financial support has come to an end. we are, after all, dealing with sovereign nations with long traditions, not always consonant with market capitalism. but my sense is that there is a growing understanding and appreciation of the benefits of market capitalism as we practice it, and that what is being prescribed in imf - supported programs fosters their own interests. similarly, it is a reasonable question to ask whether the us authorities should not seek greater assurance that the ongoing process of reform in the imf ’ s policies and operations will produce additional concrete results before we agree to augment the imf ’ s resources. i have reason to believe that the management and staff of the imf are committed to a process of change. we face a somewhat more difficult task in convincing the imf ’ s membership as a whole of the need for change. however, i am confident that our leverage in this regard would be reduced if the united states failed to agree promptly to the proposed increases in the imf ’ s resources. accordingly, i continue fully to back the administration ’ s request to augment the financial resources of the imf by approving as quickly as possible us participation in the new arrangements to borrow and an increase in the us quota in the imf. hopefully, neither will turn out to be needed, and no funds will be drawn. although the tendency in recent months toward stabilization in the east asian economies is encouraging, clearly those economies are not out of