Jay Brinkmann

I am the former chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association. Let me help you understand the economic environment and how to benchmark the operating efficiency of your organization.

Jay Brinkmann is the retired Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of Research and Education at the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) where he worked on a wide range of single-family, commercial, and multifamily real estate finance issues. His team handled economic and industry forecasting, as well as crafting initiatives to deal with ever-evolving regulatory and legislative issues impacting lending, servicing, and the secondary market. His team also conducted quarterly, semi-annual, and annual studies benchmarking the operational efficiency and profitability of the mortgage divisions of commercial banks and independent mortgage companies. Jay was also responsible for rebuilding MBA’s educational offerings, and restoring education as a major member service and profit center for the association.

Jay began his career on Capitol Hill as the press secretary to U.S. Rep. David C. Treen. He then served as Treen’s deputy chief of staff when Treen was elected governor of Louisiana. He worked in commercial banking at what was then Louisiana National Bank/Premier National Bank in Baton Rouge, and was on the business school faculty at the University of Houston where he specialized in financial institution regulation and energy markets. Immediately prior to joining MBA, he worked in the portfolio strategy group at Fannie Mae.

He has published articles on bank regulation and housing finance in various academic journals and on the op-ed pages of The Wall Street Journal and the American Banker. He was frequently quoted in print and electronic news outlets on real estate finance topics, has appeared on the news shows of all of the major broadcast and cable networks, and has testified before the US House and Senate banking committees. Jay holds a Ph.D. in finance from Purdue University, an MBA from Tulane University and a BA in International Affairs from The George Washington University.