Articles by David C. John

Economy

Financial Transactions Tax Is Back – Again

David C. John | February 28, 2013

Two Members of Congress are reportedly trying again to impose an excise tax on certain financial transactions—i.e., the “Robin Hood tax.” A financial transactions tax… Read More

Economy

S&P Suit: No New Laws Were Needed for 2008 Collapse

David C. John | February 06, 2013

The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) civil suit against credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) shows that laws that existed well before the financial crash… Read More

Economy

Wells Fargo Mortgage Suit: Using Existing Powers to Confront Housing Problems

David C. John | October 18, 2012

Last week, Wells Fargo, the nation’s largest mortgage lender, was sued by the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan for allegedly defrauding the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)…. Read More

 

Social Security Pays Benefits to Millionaires’ Children

David C. John | August 24, 2012

Many aspects of Social Security date back to 1939 and reflect an America that is long gone. One of these pays Social Security benefits to… Read More

Economy

DeMarco Signals a Better Housing Policy by Putting Taxpayers First

David C. John | August 02, 2012

Ed DeMarco, the acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), got it right by putting taxpayers’ interests ahead of the Obama Administration’s wishes…. Read More

Economy

Senate Flood Insurance Compromise Will Reduce Taxpayer Cost of Disasters

David C. John | June 28, 2012

Further scrambling to pay for transportation projects and the subsidized student loan interest rate freeze, Congress is now debating to add a five-year flood insurance… Read More

 

Infographic: JP Morgan Chase and the Loss in Perspective

David C. John | May 17, 2012

JP Morgan Chase’s $2 billion loss on a hedging strategy doesn’t mean that the bank is in crisis, and it certainly does not mean the… Read More

 

JPMorgan Chase Losses: No Reason for More Regulation

David C. John | May 11, 2012

JPMorgan Chase’s announcement that it has lost $2 billion in a failed hedge strategy sent shock waves through the financial world yesterday. And in Washington,… Read More

Economy

DeMarco Warns of the Dangers of Large-Scale Forgiving of Mortgage Debt

David C. John | April 15, 2012

To hear certain parts of the press tell it, the acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Ed DeMarco, announced that the agency… Read More

Economy

Cantor JOBS Bill Would Help Small Businesses Grow

David C. John | March 07, 2012

In a move designed to make it easier for smaller businesses to raise money for expansion and job creation, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R–VA)… Read More

 

Obama Cuts FHA Fees, Taxpayer Bailout Looms

David C. John | March 07, 2012

President Obama has announced that he ordered the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to cut in half the fee paid by homeowners whose mortgages the agency… Read More

 

Geithner Draws Wrong Dodd-Frank Lessons and Forgets Fannie Mae

David C. John | March 05, 2012

There were plenty of lessons to learn after the financial crisis of 2008. Unfortunately, neither Congress nor the Obama Administration was willing to take the… Read More

Economy

Mortgage Settlement Sounds Better for Homeowners Than It Is

David C. John | February 10, 2012

From the hype surrounding the newly announced $26 billion settlement over abusive foreclosure and mortgage servicing practices, one might think that it would single-handedly solve… Read More

 

SEC Charges Reinforce Case for Eliminating Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac

David C. John | December 16, 2011

The misguided federal policy to concentrate the U.S. mortgage finance industry in two huge government-sponsored entities was underscored again this morning when the Securities and… Read More

 

10 Years After Enron, Time to Throw Out Sarbanes–Oxley’s Section 404

David C. John | December 02, 2011

Exactly 10 years ago today, the Enron Corporation filed for bankruptcy after it was revealed that it had blatantly falsified its earnings statements for many… Read More

Economy

First-time Homebuyers Tax Credit Shows Government Can’t Fix Housing

David C. John | November 14, 2011

Government programs cannot stop the decline in housing prices. The latest evidence of this comes from a study of first-time homebuyers who took advantage of… Read More

Economy

Latest Obama Mortgage Refinance Plan Another Dud

David C. John | October 25, 2011

Undeterred by the underperformance of several previous efforts at mortgage refinancing, the Obama Administration has announced yet another plan designed to refinance the “underwater” mortgages… Read More

 

Proposed Mortgage Refinance Plan Would Help Only a Few

David C. John | October 19, 2011

They are at it again. Despite numerous unsuccessful tries to develop a government-facilitated plan to refinance problem mortgages, another one appears to be on the… Read More

 News

Social Security Needs to Be Fixed, Says Senate Finance Minority, but How?

David C. John | October 18, 2011

Senate Finance Committee Republicans have some good advice for the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (sometimes known as the super committee): Fix Social Security… Read More

Economy

Look Before You Regulate: Measuring the Costs of Financial Rules

David C. John | September 28, 2011

You would think that any regulation that could affect a major part of the economy and cost industry and/or consumers millions of dollars to comply… Read More

 

Is Social Security a Ponzi Scheme?

David C. John | September 14, 2011

While some of the press stories might make one think that Bernie Madoff ran Social Security, the reality is quite different. Although Social Security does… Read More

Economy

FHFA Sues Banks to Recover Housing Bond Losses: Less Than Meets the Eye?

David C. John | September 02, 2011

News reports say that the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) will sue about 12 major banks in order to recover some of the losses that… Read More

 

Social Security’s Disability Program Faces an Empty Trust Fund

David C. John | August 23, 2011

With continuing unemployment problems driving more and more Americans to seek Social Security disability benefits, that program’s already weakened trust fund faces a bleak future…. Read More

 

A New Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Even Former Obama Advisers Say No!

David C. John | August 16, 2011

The Washington Post reports that President Obama wants the federal government to continue to have a major role in housing finance, perhaps by creating a… Read More

Economy

Social Security’s COLA Needs to Be More Accurate

David C. John | July 11, 2011

Any budget agreement should include an improvement of the accuracy of Social Security’s annual cost-of-living allowance (COLA) payments. Press reports say this is now on… Read More

Economy

Consumers Lose, No One Happy, with Final Fed Swipe Fee Regulations

David C. John | July 05, 2011

Splitting the difference does not improve bad policy. The final regulations adopted this week by the Federal Reserve Board to impose price caps on “swipe… Read More

Economy

Trustees Show Permanent Deficits for Social Security

David C. John | May 13, 2011

How Will This Report Affect the Social Security Debate? The debate about whether Social Security faces a problem and needs to be fixed is over…. Read More

Economy

Two Promising Starts towards Ending Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

David C. John | March 31, 2011

After more than a year of delay, the House Financial Services Committee is finally starting work on legislation that will hopefully end Fannie Mae and… Read More

Economy

Obama’s Plan: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Go, but What Replaces Them?

David C. John | February 11, 2011

Given the task of producing a plan to develop a new housing finance system after the crisis of 2008 and the failure of both Fannie… Read More

Economy

Social Security’s Bleak Future Has Arrived

David C. John | February 03, 2011

For the last couple of decades, Social Security analysts, public trustees, and even both Republican and Democratic Presidents have warned that unless the program is… Read More