It is now widely recognized that the interest rate risks embedded in the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (F&F) retained mortgage portfolios create a serious threat to the US financial system. This paper evaluates proposals to control the interest rate risk embedded in these portfolios. The analysis...

This commentary focuses on two specific issues. The first asks, What are the market failures that actually create the need for the public regulation of bank safety and soundness? The second issue concerns the safety and soundness issues created by the two mortgage government-sponsored...

The transformation of the planned economies of central and eastern Europe to market economies has focused on economic stabilization and liberalization, privatization, and financial sector development. The housing sector and the mortgage market have been factors in each of these processes but not...

This paper examines the causes of the failure of the private market for catastrophe insurance and examines some public solutions. Although the standard explanations of insurance market failure (adverse selection and moral hazard, large imprecise risks) are present, we argue that the primary...