For decades, investors have spent countless hours speculating about the Federal Reserve's agenda on interest rates. Market watchers study every adjective in often-cryptic Fed statements for clues about the outlook for monetary policy.

If we view the New York central bank as a bank, we see that it has a very small capital ratio with very large leverage.

Chairman Bernanke can be faulted for not anticipating the severity of the global financial crisis, however he deserves some credit for helping stabilize the financial sector at a time of unprecedented instability.

The federal government has taken over large swaths of consumer lending, most notably the $10 trillion home mortgage and $1 trillion student lending markets. The government's share of new loans for each now approaches 100%.Government monopolies in financial services pose risks to taxpayers as well as borrowers

The Dodd financial regulation bill lacks any recognition of the existence of a competitive market.

Do we care if the New York Federal Reserve does not have much capital relative to its assets?

In less than twenty-five years, government “affordable housing” and other housing policies have turned a healthy market into a financial ruin. Until Fannie and Freddie’s market dominance and the government’s role in the housing finance system are substantially reduced or eliminated, the United States will continue to have an inferior and unstable housing market.

Twenty-five top college students will travel to the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) in Washington, D.C. this June to participate in the 2012 American Enterprise Summer Institute.