There is plenty of blame to go around for the U.S. housing bubble, but not much of it belongs to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The two giant housing-finance institutions made many mistakes over the decades, some of them real whoppers, but causing house prices to soar and then crater during the past decade weren't among them.
The FHA's success provides strong evidence that government can and should play a role in the nation's mortgage finance system. It also demonstrates that although government intervention in the economy during the Great Recession was messy, things would have been a lot messier without it.
The most important point is, in a time of crisis, there is no way out but for the government to be bold and aggressive.
An overheating economy, characterized by accelerating inflation and rising interest rates, is another precondition for recession. This doesn't describe today's economy.
They called me the sexiest economist in America, and that was years ago, when I had hair and body mass and my teeth were shiny.
There is a banking adage that if it's growing like a weed, it's a good chance that it's a weed.
Yes. I don't think it would be appropriate at this point to raise taxes on anyone, certainly not in 2011.
A home is still the biggest asset that most Americans own.
In a normal time, I don't think economic policy makes a large difference one way or another. But in times of crisis it makes all the difference in the world.
Buying a home wouldn't make much sense if house prices were likely to decline further; no one wants to catch a falling knife.
I've done work for both Democrats and Republicans.
I only have two things in my life, my family and work. If there's any time left over, then I play sports.
Defaulting on the nation's debt would be cataclysmic. The U.S. Treasury's Aaa rating is the one constant in the world's financial system. When times are bad anywhere on the planet, global investors flock to Treasury bonds because they know they will get their money back.
The principal linkages between Japan and the U.S. global economies are trade, financial markets, and commodity markets.
Past experience with fiscal austerity at home and overseas strongly suggests that it is best for the economy's long-run performance to restrain government spending rather than raise taxes.
The extension and expansion of the payroll tax holidays for workers would be number one on my list and key to avoiding recession.
There are different flavors of recession. You can get into some pretty dark scenarios pretty quickly.
My policy is I will help any policymaker who asks, whether they be a Republican or a Democrat.
The Tea Party was born out of the disgust many Americans felt early in the financial crisis upon learning that the federal government was even contemplating reducing the principal on some troubled mortgages.
We need to get rid of the debt ceiling law. It's anachronistic and it's a problem.
Too-easy credit and millions of bad loans made during the U.S. housing bubble paved the way for the financial calamity and Great Recession that followed. Today, by contrast, credit is too tight. Mortgage loans are particularly hard to get, creating a problem for the housing market and the broader economy.
