The banking industry suffered credit crises in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. An unavoidable conclusion is that its loan loss reserves were in all cases too small. 

Although they are analogous to corporate directors, the directors of government-sponosored enterprises have a duty of loyalty that extends beyond the GSE itself and its shareholders or their equivalent.

WhileCongress need not makeurgent changes in the FHLB system, the system's lack of rationale could lead to substantial restraints on its growth--and possibly its eventual decline.

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

As the United States approaches the bottom of the housing bust, American Enterprise Institute (AEI) housing expert Alex Pollock explains in a recently published piece that there are seven necessary steps to avoid another housing collapse.

The Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBs) were established to sell long-term obligations nationally and relend the proceedings to savings and loan associations that made and held local home mortgages.  

AEI Resident fellow Alex Pollock examines past sovereign debt crises, especially the European crisis of the 1920s, in the context of the current economic situation for a piece in the latest Financial Services Outlook and the Wall Street Journal.

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