In early 2004, JP Morgan Chase and Bank One announced plans to create the second largest banking organization in the country. Before the deal was completed, the primary regulator for the acquiring bank, in this case the Federal Reserve, along with state banking agencies and the Department of...

For the past several years, the news media have carried countless stories about soaring defaults among subprime mortgage borrowers. Although concern over this segment of the mortgage market is certainly justified, subprime mortgages only account for about onequarter of the total outstanding...

Foreclosure rates are defined as mortgages in the foreclosure process as a percentage of all mortgages. These rates vary fairly dramatically across states. While the average foreclosure rate in the 50 states and the District of Columbia in the second quarter of 2007 was 1.25 percent, these rates...

Food prices have been rising rapidly over the past two years. In August 2008, aggregate food prices were 6.1 percent above their level in August 2007. Prices in August 2007 were already 4.8 percent above the level in August 2006. Because food purchases represent a larger portion of the...