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Jennifer Taub aised in a staunch Republican household in Bloomfield Hills and attending some of the finest schools in the country, it's no surprise that financial author Jennifer Taub was drawn to a career that blends the law and public policy – even when she's taking up causes for the Democratic party. "I'm a registered Democrat, so we have lively dinner table conversations," said Taub, the daughter of former Republican state legislator and current Oakland County Commissioner Shelley Goodman Taub. "We all get along. Civil engagement is what we want in this democracy, and we all care about public service. I get involved in policy work at the federal level, but I'm interested in how large institutions effect the lives of ordinary people." Born in Tucson, Arizona, Taub moved with her family at 3-years-old to an apartment in Bloomfield Township before relocating to Troy and, eventually, back to Bloomfield Township, where her parents still live. In 1985, Taub became a member of the last graduating class at Kingswood School Cranbrook before it went co-ed, then attending Yale and Harvard Law School. After graduating from law school, Taub practiced law as an associate general counsel for Fidelity Investments before joining academia and teaching law at Vermont Law School. Taub also writes about financial reform. In 2014, she wrote her first book, "Other People's Houses: How Decades of Bailouts, Captive Regulators and Toxic Bankers Made Home Mortgages a Thrilling Business."
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"I was teaching at the time the financial crisis hit and was immediately captivated by the details of what was going on," she said. "I understood in the early weeks of September (2008) that there was going to have to be a major intervention by the government to save the financial industry. I understood the domino effect and how things interconnect. I understood what a big mess it would be, but was afraid it would be a top-down rescue only, and homeowners would be left out. I hoped action would be taken to help out ordinary people." Using narrative form to tell the story of a Texas family's Supreme Court case, the book focuses on the similarities of the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and the financial crisis of 2008 from the perspective of the homeowner. Taub writes extensively and speaks often about financial reform, lecturing throughout the United States and overseas. Currently, Taub is in the midst of co-authoring a casebook about white collar crime. While Taub lives in Northampton, Massachusetts with her husband and children, she said she still considers Michigan her home. "He's an artist, so he's able to share in the child care, and he does all the cooking, which is nice," she said of her husband. "We try to get back home. I still consider Michigan my home. I consider myself a Midwesterner. My oldest daughter loves the waterslides in Oakland County. We try to drive back and make it in one day." Story: Katie Deska