"Subprime Mortgages" is a short, balanced, academic review of a major current topic. Gramlich points out that subprime mortgages have increased home ownership from about 64% to 69%, particularly benefiting minorities and those with lower incomes. They have also led to improved loan application processing.

The bad side includes bringing potential abuses from new, largely unregulated mortgage sources, a 10X increase in default rates (some believe their default rate will reach 20X that of "regular" mortgages), and enormous losses in financial markets around the world. (Gramlich failed to mention the likely damage to American financial market credibility.)

Gramlich also points out that 45% of low-income home owners and 57% of renters are now spending over half their disposable income on housing - a too great load by most standards.