Housing | AEIdeas

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Thomas Sowell on the political obsession with homeownership

Mark J. Perry | May 7, 2013, 8:27 am

From Thomas Sowell’s column today: In pursuit of those higher home ownership rates, especially among low-income people and minorities, the many vast powers of the federal government — from the Federal Reserve to bank regulatory agencies and even the Department … read more >

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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 >

Pethokoukis

‘Mr. Watt voted aye, to weaken the authority of the regulatory position for which he will now be nominated’

James Pethokoukis | May 2, 2013, 1:55 pm

How about some accountability, finally? There was none for key players in the Financial Crisis from Tim Geithner to Ben Bernanke to Barney Frank to Wall Street executives. And now we have Rep. Mel Watt, the NC Democrat whom Obama … read more >

Image credit: Frontpage / Shutterstock.com

Economics, U.S. Economy

Privatizing Fannie: Déjà vu all over again

Edward Pinto | April 30, 2013, 10:53 am

The Bloomberg headline trumpets “Paulson Leads Hedge-Fund Lobby Push to Privatize Fannie.” It should have read: “Hedge-Fund Lobby Seeks Repeat of Disastrous 1968 Fannie Privatization Plan”. The hedge-fund lobby proposes to “privatize” Fannie and Freddie by converting the US Treasury’s … read more >

Credit: Charles W. Calomiris and Stephen Haber

Pethokoukis

Hillary Clinton’s presidential hopes and the housing bust

James Pethokoukis | April 30, 2013, 9:38 am

There was never any detectable public clamor for a President Rosalynn Carter. Even if the former first lady had political ambitions, her husband’s disastrous presidency would have put the kibosh on them. So, too, there probably wouldn’t be quite as much … read more >

Economics, U.S. Economy

Let’s not repeat the same mistakes that led to the housing bubble

Edward Pinto | April 26, 2013, 9:06 am

A recent New York Times article entitled “Down Payment Rules Are at Heart of Mortgage Debate” reported that “lenders and consumer advocates — rarely on the same side of the issue — are now cautioning against down payment requirements.” Cited … read more >

Carpe Diem

A few highlights from today’s report on existing-home sales

Mark J. Perry | April 22, 2013, 3:09 pm

A few highlights from today’s report on existing-home sales from the National Association of Realtors: 1. What seemed to receive the most media attention was the 0.6% monthly decline in existing home sales from February to March. However, for the month of March, the … read more >

Pethokoukis, Economics, U.S. Economy

Why Zandi to FHFA could mean Obama mortgage principal reductions, mass refi plan

James Pethokoukis | April 15, 2013, 8:48 am

If Mark Zandi becomes the new regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, it could potentially be one of the most significant economic events of President Obama’s second term. Unlike Ed DeMarco, the acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Zandi, currently chief economist of … read more >

Pethokoukis

Should we worry about rising home prices?

James Pethokoukis | April 12, 2013, 2:23 pm

Housing prices are up. The S&P/Case-Shiller 10- and 20-city composites climbed 7.3% and 8.1% from a year earlier through January. Now last year was not a great one for US incomes. Real disposable personal income rose just 1.5%. But low mortgage … read more >

Pethokoukis, Economics, Regulation

Was it easy money or easy regulation that caused the housing bubble?

James Pethokoukis | April 12, 2013, 10:51 am

I’ve argued that tight monetary policy in 2008 turned what may have been a slowdown or mild downturn into the Great Recession. In other words, a minor replay of the Great Depression/Contraction. But that is a separate issue from what … read more >