Financial Services

Sunday, May 19, 2013

How to take away Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s nationalized monopoly

Abby McCloskey | May 15, 2013, 9:39 am

US residential real estate credit is one of the largest asset classes in the world, and it’s largely backed by taxpayers. Taxpayers fund or guarantee more than 90% of new mortgages. This arrangement is not only a government monopoly; it’s … read more >

Economics, Financial Services, Pethokoukis

So now we know how Bernanke would break up the megabanks

James Pethokoukis | May 10, 2013, 12:03 pm

If you think the way to deal with too big/interconnected to fail/manage is by breaking up the megabanks, you have three basic options: 1) cap their size, 2) restructure them, 3) make them raise gobs of equity capital. In a … read more >

Credit: Stuart Gabriel, Matthew Kahn, Ryan Vaughn

Economics, Financial Services, Pethokoukis

A study in crony capitalism: Subprime lenders offered better deals to borrowers in districts of congressional big shots

James Pethokoukis | May 6, 2013, 11:17 am

UCLA researchers have found that leading up to the Financial Crisis, subprime lenders employed a novel method of influencing the political process. In addition to campaign contributions to key politicians, they gave special treatment to borrowers represented by key congressional … read more >

Economics, Financial Services, Pethokoukis

Washington finally waking up to Dodd-Frank’s failure

James Pethokoukis | May 6, 2013, 9:42 am

A stunning note this morning from ace banking analyst Jaret Seiberg of Guggenheim Washington Research Group. Some of the key points (bold is mine): We believe it is now close to inevitable that regulators will adopt measures that go beyond … read more >

Economics, Financial Services, Pethokoukis

Fed governor outlines ‘another alternative for the break-up-the-megabank crowd’

James Pethokoukis | May 3, 2013, 2:27 pm

Federal Reserve Governor Daniel Tarullo is the central bank’s regulation guy and has been giving some provocative speeches exploring how to end Too Big To Fail and reduce systemic risk. In a speech today, he suggests linking the amount of … read more >

Economics, Financial Services, Pethokoukis

Senators Brown and Vitter offer a smart and simple plan to end Too Big To Fail

James Pethokoukis | April 25, 2013, 10:06 am

Banks used to have huge safety cushions, equity capital somewhere in the order of 20% to 30% of assets. Government didn’t tell them to do that. Those levels reflected what depositors and investors demanded. Then came a century of government … read more >

Economics, Financial Services, U.S. Economy

Here we go again on housing

Sita Slavov | April 5, 2013, 9:47 am

From the New York Times, September 30, 1999: In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks … read more >

Economics, Financial Services

100 years later, here’s how to make the Fed stop wrecking the US economy

Henrik Temp | March 26, 2013, 10:43 am

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the legislation that created the Federal Reserve. At an AEI event on Friday morning, three all-star economists discussed a new conceptual framework for the Fed called market monetarism, a policy which they argue … read more >

Economics, Financial Services, Pethokoukis

What Tim Johnson’s retirement will mean for ending ‘too big to fail’ and reforming the megabanks

James Pethokoukis | March 26, 2013, 10:24 am

National Journal’s Catherine Hollander throws cold water on the idea that the recent nonbinding 99-0 vote to end “too big to fail” will result in a new wave of financial reform that will cap, shrink, or restructure the megabanks. She … read more >

Credit: Benjamin Dumas (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Economics, Financial Services, Pethokoukis

Another way ‘too big to fail’ skews market forces

James Pethokoukis | March 25, 2013, 3:07 pm

If you have a chance, please have a look at my National Review column for an update on some recent progress in ending government distortions in the US financial sector. One angle on the issue that I fail to mention … read more >

International conference on collateral risk: Moderating housing cycles and their systemic impact

Experts from the US, Europe, Canada, and Asia will address efforts to moderate housing cycles using countercyclical lending policies.

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Economic liberty and human flourishing: Perspectives from political philosophy

At this event, three expert panelists will examine this relationship from the perspectives of influential philosophers such as Aristotle, Alexis de Tocqueville, and representatives of the Scottish Enlightenment.

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Public employee pensions: How large are the deficits? What changes can be made?

At this event, panelists will address pension reform challenges by presenting the results of three research papers commissioned by AEI through a generous grant from the Smith Richardson Foundation.

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