Senate Analysis – Returning from their five-week summer vacation, Senators face an ambitious agenda that includes liberal health care reform, a cap-and-tax energy policy, financial regulatory overhaul, a new strategy in Afghanistan and, of course, appropriations. Some insiders have even mentioned comprehensive immigration and some variation of so-called “card check.” …
At yesterday’s Bloggers Briefing at Heritage, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), ranking member on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, touted a 26-page report that holds the government accountable for the housing crisis through its unsustainable drive to increase homeownership. The report sheds light on the unnecessary interference of government …
Government Controlled Life Stimulus: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 significantly grew the size and scope of government, doubling the size of federal agencies—including Education and Energy—and moving America toward a government-mandated health care system, all while placing future generations further in debt. SCHIP: The State Children’s …
Via Greg Mankiw, Bentley University professor Scott Sumner writes on efficient-markets hypothesis (EMH): So the anti-EMH argument for regulation must be based on the following: bankers are irrational and make lots of foolish loans. Regulators are rational and can see that these loans are too risky, and can protect bankers …
7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals judge Richard Posner and Nobel Laureate Gary Becker weigh in on President Barack Obama’s mortgage bailout plan on their Becker-Posner blog. First up, Posner: The four measures, taken as a whole, are likely to be administratively complicated, costly, and slow, and so have very …
“Helping Families Save Their Homes Act”? Or Neighborhood Destabilization Act: Allows bankruptcy judges to reduce the principal owed on a mortgage, a practice often referred to as a “cramdown.” Judges would be able to reduce interest rates or lengthen the term of the mortgage. H.R. 1106: It actually achieves opposite …
University of Chicago school of business professor Luigi Zingales has a plan to address the housing crisis that doesn’t involve bankruptcy judge cram downs or a federal government bailout. Before he gets to his plan, Zingales outlines what any government intervention in the marketplace must prove before it should be …
