Monthly Archives: June 2010

A year ago a week from today I discussed the financial innovation that wasn’t. It was a look at Lewis Ranieri, the creator of the mortgage backed security, as well as one of the minds behind the 1984 Secondary Mortgage … Continue reading →

In a move that I’m assuming is market testing a potential new “welfare queen” meme, House Republicans attached an amendment to penalize strategic defaulters by barring them from getting Federal Housing Administration-backed loans in the future. Ryan Grim: The GOP … Continue reading →

Wow. Fannie is jumping ahead of Congress in going after Strategic Defaulters without (a) identifying who they are even quasi-rigorously and (b) identifying how big of a problem this is, and how this isn’t just piling on people experiencing deep … Continue reading →

Prelude. Chris Hayes has an excellent op-ed on BP and the BP spill in relation to our current predicament, BP: Beyond Punishment: …David Brooks made the same point a touch more artfully, chalking up the disaster to “the bloody crossroads … Continue reading →

Stephen Spruiell did not like my previous characterization of his opinions on consumer finance, nor does he like the idea of consumer protection (my numbering): [1] Is Konczal really trying to argue that poor people aren’t capable of understanding the … Continue reading →

I find it really depressing and exhausting to follow this bill through to the end. But I also realized that the depressing and exhausting part of it is a political force, that can easily keep from paying attention for when … Continue reading →

David Dayen reports Last Chance for Lobbyists as FinReg Conference Concludes: This actually isn’t entirely new. Certain promises around asset management companies in Massachusetts were promised to Brown in exchange for his cloture vote on the Senate bill. But there’s … Continue reading →

Matt Yglesias writes a good post I’d normally agree with, Kevin Drum responds. I responded on interchange here, and will talk about overdraft here. Overcharge I was at a book event for Gary Rivlin’s Broke USA, which I’m reading and … Continue reading →

Matt Yglesias writes a good post I’d normally agree with: Regulate business to prevent negative environmental externalities, sure. Basic safety, okay. But the idea that what we need is for a bunch of people to get together and say that … Continue reading →

Heh. Great catch by credit slips. George Mason University, whose Mercatus Center hosted the recent panel about interchange I was on as well as the research of Todd Zywicki about interchange, research that found that “Merchants’ efforts to cabin these … Continue reading →