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Meet the Economists

Photo of Kamila Sommer

Kamila Sommer

Chief Consumer Finance Section Research and Statistics
202-452-2909
[email protected]

Education

  • Ph.D., Economics, Georgetown University, 2010
  • M.A., Economics, Georgetown University, 2006
  • B.S., Mathematics, Virginia Union University, 2004
Current Research Topics
  • Housing, student loans, other consumer credit
  • Section Chief, Consumer Finance

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

    2021 - present
  • Group Manager, Flow of Funds

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

    2018 - 2021
  • Principal Economist, Real Estate Finance

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

    2017 - 2018
  • Senior Economist, Real Estate Finance

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

    2014 - 2017
  • Economist, Real Estate Finance

    Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

    2012 - 2014
  • Economist

    Fannie Mae

    2010 - 2012
  • Batty, Michael, Jesse Bricker, Joseph Briggs, Sarah Friedman, Danielle Nemschoff, Eric Nielsen, Kamila Sommer, and Alice Henriques Volz (forthcoming). "The Distributional Financial Accounts of the United States," in Chetty, Raj, John N. Friedman, Janet C. Gornick, Barry Johnson, and Arthur Kennickell eds., Measuring and Understanding the Distribution and Intra/Inter-Generational Mobility of Income and Wealth. NBER Book Series Studies in Income and Wealth. The University of Chicago Press.
  • Mezza, Alvaro, Daniel Ringo, and Kamila Sommer (2021). "Student Loans, Access to Credit and Consumer Financial Behavior," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2021-050. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
  • Gallin, Joshua H., Raven Molloy, Eric Nielsen, Paul Smith, and Kamila Sommer (2021). "Measuring Aggregate Housing Wealth: New Insights from Machine Learning," Journal of Housing Economics, vol. 51 (March).
  • Batty, Michael, Jesse Bricker, Ella Deeken, Sarah Friedman, Eric Nielsen, Kamila Sommer, Sarah Reber, and Alice Volz (2020). "Updating the Distributional Financial Accounts," FEDS Notes 2020-11-09. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
  • Sommer, Kamila (2020). "Student Debt Overhang: Imprint on Homeownership and the Economy," Business Economics, vol. 55, no. 3, pp. 134-137.
  • Mezza, Alvaro A., Daniel R. Ringo, Shane M. Sherlund, and Kamila Sommer (2020). "Student Loans and Homeownership," Journal of Labor Economics, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 215-260.
  • Peterman, William B., and Kamila Sommer (2019). "How Well did Social Security Mitigate the Effects of the Great Recession?" International Economic Review., vol. 60, no. 3, 1433-1466.
  • Peterman, William B., and Kamila Sommer (2019). "A Historical Welfare Analysis of Social Security: Whom Did the Program Benefit?" Quantitative Economics, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 1357-1399.
  • Batty, Michael, Jesse Bricker, Joseph Briggs, Elizabeth Holmquist, Susan McIntosh, Kevin Moore, Eric Nielsen, Sarah Reber, Molly Shatto, Kamila Sommer, Tom Sweeney, and Alice Henriques Volz (2019). "Introducing the Distributional Financial Accounts of the United States," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2019-017. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
  • Mezza, Alvaro, Daniel Ringo, and Kamila Sommer (2019). "Can Student Loan Debt Explain Low Homeownership Rates for Young Adults?" Consumer & Community Context, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 2-6.
  • Sommer, Kamila, and Paul Sullivan (2018). "Implications of US Tax Policy for House Prices, Rents, and Homeownership," American Economic Review, vol. 108, no. 2, pp. 241-274.
  • Gallin, Joshua H., Raven Molloy, Eric Nielsen, Paul Smith, and Kamila Sommer (2018). "Measuring Aggregate Housing Wealth: New Insights from Machine Learning," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2018-064. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
  • Hall, Hannah, Eric Nielsen, and Kamila Sommer (2018). "A New Measure of Housing Wealth in the Financial Accounts of the United States," FEDS Notes 2018-09-28. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
  • Feiveson, Laura, Alvaro Mezza, and Kamila Sommer (2018). "Student Loan Debt and Aggregate Consumption Growth," FEDS Notes 2018-02-21. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
  • Sommer, Kamila (2016). "Fertility Choice in a Life Cycle Model with Idiosyncratic Uninsurable Earnings Risk," Journal of Monetary Economics, vol. 83, pp. 27-38.
  • Mezza, Alvaro, and Kamila Sommer (2016). "A Trillion Dollar Question: What Predicts Student Loan Delinquencies?" Journal of Student Financial Aid, vol. 46, no. 3.
  • Mezza, Alvaro, and Kamila Sommer (2015). "A Trillion Dollar Question: What Predicts Student Loan Delinquency Risk?" FEDS Notes 2015-10-16. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
  • Mezza, Alvaro, Kamila Sommer, and Shane M. Sherlund (2014). "Student Loans and Homeownership Trends," FEDS Notes 2014-10-15. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
  • Sommer, Kamila, Paul Sullivan, and Randal Verbrugge (2013). "The Equilibrium Effect of Fundamentals on House Prices and Rents," Journal of Monetary Economics, vol. 60, no. 7, pp. 854-870.
  • Sommer, Kamila (2010). "Essays in Quantitative Macroeconomics," Ph.D. dissertation, Georgetown University.
Last update: June 30, 2022