Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Index Founder Says Home Prices Could Surpass Depression Levels

New Haven, Conn.–Yale University economist Robert Shiller, creator of the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index, said Tuesday that U.S. housing prices could drop more than they did during the Great Depression, BusinessWeek reports.During a speech to the New Haven Lawn Club, Shiller called for more bailouts to prevent foreclosures and forecast price declines more than the 30 percent 1930s-era Depression drop.According to Shiller, home prices already have fallen 15 percent since 2006; they rose roughly 85 percent from 1997 until 2006–a period which Shiller called the biggest housing boom in U.S. history.The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index is thought to be a strong home price gauge because it studies price changes of the same property over a given time period.