Congressman Robert Hurt introduced two of the bills we considered in today's markup: H.R. 1564, the Audit Integrity and Job Protection Act and H.R. 1105, the Small Business Capital Access and Job Preservation Act. Both were reported favorably by the committee with bipartisan support.
The first bill, H.R. 1564, prohibits the Public Company Accounting… Read more »
Two subcommittee hearings and a full committee markup make for a slightly lighter week than last. Be sure to check back here on the Bottom Line Blog -- and subscribe to our email lists -- for updates throughout the week.
Here’s what’s happening:
On Tuesday -- as Rep. Capito previewed in our Sunday Video Message -- the Financial Institutions & Consumer Credit… Read more »
Financial Institutions & Consumer Credit Subcommittee Chairman Shelley Moore Capito delivers this week's Sunday Video Message, the first in our new series. In the video, Rep. Capito previews next week's hearing on the Dodd-Frank Act's negative impact on homeownership.
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Fortune: The Fed's other trillion dollar problem
The amount of money banks have at the Fed recently reached 13 digits, for the first time ever.
Bloomberg: New Home Prices Say What’s Different This Time
Although no two business cycles are alike, most share some common characteristics. The interest-rate-sensitive sectors of the economy -- housing and manufacturing -- tend to… Read more »
A survey of housing finance in other countries sheds light on the distortion that government subsidies for housing can cause in national economies. Professors at New York University’s Stern School of Business have pointed out that one thing that Spain and the United States have in common is a “massive misallocation of their economy’s resources to construction. The oversupply is… Read more »
Contrary to the Fannie & Freddie defenders’ assertions that America’s unique GSE-model of housing finance is the “envy of the world,” yesterday’s full committee hearing found that the U.S. ranks only 17th in the world in terms of the rate of homeownership. Our 65% homeownership rate puts us behind Australia, Ireland, Spain, and the United Kingdom, all of which provide far less… Read more »
Proponents of the GSE model of housing finance often assert that the costs of that model are justified because it provides benefits that no other countries enjoy. In fact, before the collapse of the GSEs in 2008, their supporters often argued that “American housing finance is the envy of the world.” But the reality is that for all of the resources and subsidies that the GSEs directed (we… Read more »
On Wednesday the House will consider H.R. 1256, the Swap Jurisdiction Certainty Act.
The Problem:
Swaps are uniquely tailored financial products traded globally (cross-border) by a variety of industries to manage risk. Under the Dodd-Frank Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are responsible for regulating swaps trades… Read more »
We’ll hold four hearings -- including full committee action on sustainable housing finance reform -- this week in addition to our three (and a half) bills on the House Floor. Be sure to check back here on the Bottom Line Blog -- and subscribe to our email lists -- for updates throughout the week.
Here’s what’s happening:
We’re told on Tuesday the Rules Committee will meet… Read more »
Wall Street Journal: The Hidden Jobless Disaster
At the present slow pace of job growth, it will require more than a decade to get back to full employment defined by pre-recession standards.
Bloomberg: Can the Fed Make Up Its Mind on QE?
When the Federal Reserve first introduced its either/or stance on quantitative easing, I wasn’t sure if it was a PR ploy or a serious… Read more »
