Mostly #scuba #cats #econ #finance #housing #JamBands fan feed. Notifications off. Author “Shelter from the Storm: How A COVID Mortgage Meltdown Was Averted”
Washington, DC
- Tweets 27,906
- Following 621
- Followers 8,539
- Likes 172
One of the many great things about Gorsuch is his ability to articulate how it’s the little guy that gets regularly screwed by bureaucratic discretion
24
181
956
116,039
Reminder that the CFPB is NOT a Wall Street regulator (such remains with SEC/CFTC), it is a Main Street regulator
26
72
373
26,535
Fannie/Freddie should be released from conservatorship because that’s the law, it’s really not any more complicated than that…and it’s not a “difficult” or “complex” process, it’s fairly straightforward
42
104
365
67,496
As a former regulator, I never once had to rely on Chevron, it’s actually not that hard to read the statutes and just simply follow the law
29
24
328
19,969
There were around 7,600 banks when Dodd-Frank was passed, now there are around 4,500, Dodd-Frank & the CFPB have crushed community banks and driven more and more banking into the MegaBanks
22
57
258
40,854
The notion that Fannie & Freddie leaving conservatorship would raise rates by 100 basis points is not even close to serious, just an insane claim - spreads were actually lower pre-conservatorship
29
75
258
47,034
Most of the opposition to ending Fannie/Freddie conservatorships is coming from entities that view the conservatorships as their avenue to robbing the taxpayer
31
48
225
17,757
Some career news - will result in less time on social media - White House Office of Management and Budget Announces Incoming Senior Appointees – The White House whitehouse.gov/briefings-sta…
66
14
235
29,409
Reminder that releasing Fannie/Freddie from conservatorship isn’t “reform” or “radical”, it’s simply following existing law
29
60
214
21,071
What stopped Fannie & Freddie from exiting conservatorship in 2020-21 was a pandemic, election & Supreme Court case, it had nothing to do with being “too complex” or “difficult” - it’s actually quite straightforward
26
36
194
27,678
The end of Chevron deference will make it slightly harder for special interests to dominate agency decision-making - a win for the common good
6
24
180
7,954
One of the more disappointing aspects of Fannie/Freddie conservatorships is the degree to which so many DC insiders believe agencies outright ignoring the law is a completely normal and fine outcome #Lawless
16
28
174
15,841
One of Yellen’s last actions as Treas Sec was to change GSE PSPAs in a manner that benefited PIMCO
33
48
173
27,644
The Conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Actions Violate HERA and Established Insolvency Principles j.mp/1758qyg
49
156
160
The degree to which Biden-Harris Fannie/Freddie policy has been driven by former BlackRock executives, with BlackRock being the biggest beneficiary, is just obscene, if not predictable
11
36
176
24,896
Please, pretty please, would some decent economists go work for the Biden-Harris administration, because they really seem to need the help
31
18
162
7,662
At least for a little while, a few extra responsibilities as Chief Statistician of the United States
31
14
173
23,335
Amazing that Hank Paulson admits his 2008 approach to GSEs was “against Congressional intent” - fancy way of saying illegal
54
85
166
Those arguing that Fannie/Freddie exit from conservatorship will raise mortgage rates are essentially arguing that said exit reduces Wall Street’s ability to steal from the taxpayer
11
28
137
8,853
Millennials like socialism — until they get jobs wpo.st/up3P1
5
92
110
Thank you to everyone who came out this morning, so touched and honored by the support and encouragement
22
19
121
The last two years have witnessed the largest increase in federal taxes collected in history - our “revenue problem” is that the govt takes too much
12
53
106
9,147
Sandra Thompson is truly an outstanding public servant; a “regulator’s regulator” - I wish her the best and lots of luck #FHFA
36
14
107
Fannie, Freddie Conservatorship Exit Not Impacted by Virus; Mark Calabria: Video - Bloomberg bloomberg.com/news/videos/20…
46
43
114
Would be great if we had an actual capitalist mortgage system, and not the current one where risk is mostly dumped onto the taxpayers
New: The spending freeze has set off a scramble in the mortgage industry, amid confusion over whether FHA loans and Ginnie securities are included.
“There is widespread panic in the housing world right now,” an industry leader said.
subscriber.politicopro.com/a…
14
22
117
43,907
The longer Fannie/Freddie are in conservatorship, the more likely Congress uses G-fee adds-on’s as budget off-sets, which would be passed along to borrowers
10
21
113
8,778
It would be so refreshing to have a Treasury Secretary who believed poorly-managed banks should be allowed to fail & go out of business
7
51
98
An issue discussed in my new book is how stuffing the banking system with MBS has left it more fragile amazon.com/Shelter-Storm-Mor…
13
30
105
97,266
Truly stunning how little the Biden administration seems to understand housing markets, almost everything they’ve proposed increases demand, ultimately doing little for housing affordability
21
19
112
8,117
I’ve worked in Congress, I’ve run an agency…special interests have, on average, far more influence at agencies, Chevon deference enables agencies to ignore Congress, often to the benefit of special interests
16
35
110
36,649
Mortgages were center of the 2008 financial crisis, Fannie/Freddie were at center of 2008 crisis, yet former Fannie/Freddie executives working at CFPB, for almost a decade, illegally exempted Fannie/Freddie loans from Dodd-Frank mortgage rules - sounds fairly corrupt to me
17
19
107
15,094
Americans Confused By System Of Government In Which Leader Would Resign After Making Terrible Decision theonion.com/r/53156 via @theonion
2
92
81
Any guarantee created by Congress for Fannie/Freddie MBS would have a fee attached & that fee would be passed along to borrowers, so let’s stop pretending a govt guarantee helps borrowers, it helps Wall Street
17
24
102
8,161
Perhaps govt should stop luring kids into unsustainable loans…
Biden administration warns of 'historically large increase' in student loan defaults without debt forgiveness cnb.cx/3tAxTvB
12
11
93
Reminder that Congress very clearly prohibited any part of govt other than FHFA from deciding upon GSEs’ conservatorships, including Treasury
16
20
93
16,924
Economists find people are better off financially when they pay less taxes…who could have guessed it? federalreserve.gov/econres/f…
4
26
95
4,832
Best part of being sworn in last year...having mom there, couldn’t have gotten here without her
14
7
91
Honestly it’s just bizarre to see some of the architects of Obama & Biden’s disastrous mortgage policies lecture the rest of us about mortgage costs - like arsonists complaining about fire
5
15
94
3,602
Shouldn’t the public be able to know how much of CFPB settlements go to the lawyers & third party groups, & how much actually goes to victims? #AuditCFPB
10
11
94
9,865
Crazy to see a Senate confirmation question ask a nominee whether they’ve communicated with me - kinda flattered
19
9
91
14,664
Regular reminder, there is NO govt guarantee of GSE debt today, as their charters & HERA make crystal clear, anyone suggesting otherwise is confused, or lying & potentially committing securities fraud
7
18
86
6,160
If you ever want to know how Treasury views its positions in Fannie/Freddie, it’s right there in the Treasury Dept financial statement - value of warrants are rounding error compared to senior preferred
37
20
88
27,017
Thank you @Mike_Pence for the friendship & support of my new book 🇺🇸 cato.org/books/shelter-storm
16
10
84
46,852
Strikes me as weird that a body of academic work (Public Choice), a core component of which is industry capture/influence over legislation/regulation gets coded as “right wing”
8
17
84
103,915
Reminder, there is zero need for Congress to do anything in order for GSEs to exit conservatorship - Congress has already acted
12
27
84
15,961
I appreciate when someone calls Fannie & Freddie the big remaining item from the 2008 crisis needing to be fixed, but the reality is that we didn’t really fix much of anything related to the 2008 crisis
10
12
85
7,054
Banks fail due to fundamental deficiencies, not “panics” marginalrevolution.com/margi…
4
14
79
16,047
Just stunning how much the cost of producing a mortgage soared under Biden, by around 50% sf.freddiemac.com/docs/pdf/c…
8
20
81
15,036
Reminder that you can have housing be a great investment or have housing be affordable, you cannot have both, choose wisely
24
20
77
Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Reins in Independent Agencies to Restore a Government that Answers to the American People – The White House whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2…
8
18
77
7,138
Where was all the concern about financial regulator independence when Yellen was (illegally) gutting FHFA’s independence only a few days ago?
6
9
74
9,274
As Chief Statistician of the United States, I congratulate @RealEJAntoni and look forward to working with him to strengthen the integrity of our federal statistical system
4
11
78
27,537
Same people who said 2017 TCJA would crash housing mkt & said not rescuing servicers in 2020 would crash housing mkt, now say letting GSEs exit conservatorship would crash housing mkt…starting to notice a pattern here
6
11
72
4,292
Cost of producing a mortgage essentially doubles under Obama, basically flat under Trump 1.0, then up 50% under Biden…policy matters
Just stunning how much the cost of producing a mortgage soared under Biden, by around 50% sf.freddiemac.com/docs/pdf/c…
6
20
75
5,874
I so wish an exit from conservatorship would fully end implied guarantee behind GSEs, but there’s zero chance of that actually being true, complete BS argument against exit
18
11
76
9,593
An odd aspect of working on Fannie/Freddie policy is that you regularly get to see 1) highly paid Wall Streeters argue for socialism, and 2) progressives defend corporate duopolies
5
13
77
5,879
As someone who has worked both as a Senate legislative Committee staffer & as an agency head/staff, the assertion that Congress isn’t capable enough to make policy, relative to agencies, is a deeply ignorant assertion
4
11
73
3,670
Let’s Build a New Consensus to Restrain Executive Power cato.org/blog/lets-build-new… via @CatoInstitute
4
52
69
Am I being nostalgic or was there once broad support on the Left for free speech, due process & civil liberties? overlawyered.com/2015/05/pol…
17
59
63
However lawless you suspect federal agencies might be, I can assure you from first hand observation, it’s a lot worse
18
17
68
6,213
Charlie Cat sends along holiday greetings, he’s looking forward to an extra scoop of Christmas kibbles #cats
26
8
68
Under this logic, why isn’t Citibank in conservatorship? And if it’s “unstated” then it’s not really a guarantee at all politico.com/newsletters/mor…
18
22
69
6,488
Over the years, the bank regulators & the SEC have made numerous harmful & outright stupid decisions in their treatment of agency MBS, none of those are a barrier to GSE exit from conservatorship
6
13
72
4,741
Great choice for Assistant Treasury Secretary for Financial Institutions, another outstanding GMU Econ PhD
2
10
70
4,780
Instead of eliminating filibuster, we should actually raise it to like 80, along with 5 year sunset on all legislation- that way only broadly supported policies become law = less conflict
12
12
70
6,203
GSE exit from conservatorship is not reform, but existing law, so what should Congress do, start with:
1) time limit on conservatorships
2) ‘33 Act coverage
3) chartering authority
4) FHFA -> independent board
5) mission reg back to HUD
6) income limits instead of loan limits
24
16
65
8,847
Scheduled to testify Tuesday morning along side Dr Carson, streaming here: banking.senate.gov/hearings/…
19
22
62
Seems a bit hypocritical for Biden Treasury to suggest FHFA sent a report to FSOC when the Biden Treasury inherited an ongoing FSOC review of Fannie/Freddie, which they then abandoned
7
7
62
6,208
I miss the pre-2008 days when even the most dishonest GSE lobbyist wouldn’t claim the implied guarantee reduced rates any more than 20 basis points
8
6
62
5,272
As I discuss in my recent book, the net worth sweep of Fannie and Freddie was clearly inconsistent with responsibilities of a conservator amazon.com/Shelter-Storm-Mor…
31
23
61
14,990
#Rand speaks more to problems facing minority communities in a few minutes than all other candidates (Dem included) combined #GOPDebate
2
69
56
Anyone who thinks there's too much Econ 101 involved in federal policy-making has obviously never been involved in federal policy-making
6
23
67
You'll hear that reform/repeal of Dodd-Frank is a special interest giveaway, when the truth is Dodd-Frank was the special interest giveaway
4
41
54
This part is fake, there was no “lost steam” - there was a pandemic and an election, at no point did anyone involved express concern over complexity finance.yahoo.com/news/us-tr…
7
9
60
5,284
Weird the degree to which so many in DC seem to believe press releases and letters can supersede statutes
3
12
61
11,114
Recent NBER paper finds entire increase in college tuition since 1987 can be explained by changes in govt loans. nber.org/chapters/c13711.pdf
2
56
61
One, among many things, that increased my cynicism, is that I had begun an investigation of Wall St underwriters, who may have cost Fannie/Freddie billions, when I left Biden Admin shut down investigation & tried to fire career staff working on it
10
18
59
14,015
"Who Are Bankers Backing for President?" great work from @VictoriaFinkle as usual. americanbanker.com/news/law-…
13
121
49
Your occasional reminder that the same folks that wrote Dodd-Frank, wrote the TARP bank bailout, not a coincidence #NoBailouts #TBTF
2
43
48
Some of us have been arguing for years that ending Wall Street bailouts should be a conservative position
7
4
58
3,740
In case you missed my hearing this morning with Dr Carson | C-SPAN.org c-span.org/video/?472834-1/h…
18
24
55