The Obama Administration is reportedly pushing banks to increase mortgage lending to people with relatively weak credit in hopes of boosting home sales. But the very same policy under Presidents Clinton and Bush contributed mightily to the housing bubble that ultimately devastated millions of families in mortgage default. Credit is …
Followers of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have long joked that the fund’s acronym stands for “It’s Mostly Fiscal.” For a long time it has helped bail out basket-case economies with severe fiscal deficiencies, such as Greece, Russia, and Argentina. But a recent report shows that the IMF is now …
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. DeMarco, whose agency controls Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, says that the anticipated benefits of reducing loan amounts of underwater mortgages “do not outweigh the …
This year’s Index of Dependence on Government presented startling findings about the sharp increase of Americans who rely on the federal government for housing, food, income, student aid or other assistance. (See last week’s chart.) Another eye-popping number was the percentage of Americans who don’t pay income taxes, which now …
During his State of the Union speech, President Obama introduced a new plan to save responsible homeowner $3,000 a year on their mortgages by refinancing at historically low interest rates. Americans would be wise to be cautious, however, about the new efforts by the federal government. The federal government’s previous …
Four years after home values in America plummeted, fears over America’s housing market remain. In testimony before Congress yesterday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke cited “the continuing depressed condition of the housing sector” as one of the factors behind America’s sagging economy. In response to the poor market, the White …
