Recent Developments in U.S. Financial Markets and Regulatory Responses to Them
Senate Committee on Banking – Hearing – July 15, 2008
http://banking.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.Detail&HearingID=8f6a9350-3d39-43a0-bbfb-953403ab19cc
Witnesses:
Henry M. Paulson , Jr., Secretary of the Treasury
Ben S. Bernanke , Chairman, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Christopher Cox , Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission
Systemic Risk and the Financial Markets (1)
US House of Representatives - Committee on Financial Services – Hearing - July 10, 2008
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/hearing/financialsvcs_dem/hr071008.shtml
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke appeared at the first of a series of hearings on the policy implications of the transformation of domestic and international financial markets, with a primary focus on the rise of potential systemic risk associated with the dramatic growth in the share of assets held outside the commercial banking system, the complex arrangements that link firms that are regulated differently (or not at all) and the increasing amount of leverage.
Systemic Risk and the Financial Markets (2)
US House of Representatives - Committee on Financial Services – Hearing - July 24, 2008
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/hearing/financialsvcs_dem/hr072408.shtml
This is the second in a series of hearings on the policy implications of the transformation of domestic and international financial markets. Witnesses for this hearing are New York Federal Reserve President Timothy Geithner, S.E.C. Chairman Christopher Cox.
Speculative Bubbles and Overreaction to Technological Innovation
FRB San Francisco - Economic Letter - June 20, 2008 – 4 pages
http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/letter/2008/el2008-18.pdf
“This Economic Letter examines some historical links between speculative bubbles, technological innovation, and capital misallocation.”
William R. Emmons FRB St. Louis - Regional Economist – Article - July 2008
The Mortgage Crisis: Let Markets Work, but Compensate the Truly Needy
http://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/re/2008/c/pages/mortgage.html
Recent mortgage-foreclosure rates are the highest since the 1930s.[1] Yet, large-scale government interventions directly in housing or mortgage markets—such as government purchases of delinquent mortgages or vacant houses, involuntary mortgage modifications, or outright mortgage-foreclosure bans—are not necessarily the best policy responses. From the perspective of maximizing long-run economic efficiency, it would be better to allow housing and mortgage markets to sort themselves out, as painful as that may be. Politicians can decide whether and how to help those who were made truly needy by this crisis.
N. Eric Weiss :Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress. Web posted July 21, 2008 – 6 pages
Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s Financial Problems: Frequently Asked Questions
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RS22916_20080715.pdf
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac chartered by Congress as government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) and are widely believed to have an implicit guarantee from the federal government. Questions about their roles are covered by the report in light of today’s economic environment.
Governor Randall S. Kroszner
Federal Reserve's Initiatives to Support Minority-Owned Institutions and Expand Consumer Protection
Remarks to Minority Depository Institutions National Conference, Chicago, Illinois - July 17, 2008
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/kroszner20080717a.htm
“I am delighted to be here to participate in today's discussion about how we can work together to foster and preserve the strength and vitality of minority depository institutions. These institutions serve essential roles. Most important, they extend credit…to businesses and individuals in neighborhoods that otherwise may not have ready access to loans. They also foster a spirit of entrepreneurship in their communities… I will focus on two important Federal Reserve initiatives. First, I will update you on our new Partnership for Progress program, which is designed to foster and support minority-owned and de novo depository institutions. Second, I plan to discuss the recent finalization of significant Federal Reserve rules implementing certain provisions of the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act.”
Larry D. Wall, Alan K. Reichert, and Hsin-Yu Liang
The Final Frontier: The Integration of Banking and Commerce
Part 1: The Likely Outcome of Eliminating the Barrier
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta - Economic Review - Vol. 93, No. 1, 2008 – Webposted July 2008 - 18 pages
http://www.frbatlanta.org/filelegacydocs/er08no1_wall.pdf
“The policy debate on whether to strengthen or to remove the legal barriers between banking and commerce has paid little attention to what the practical effects of removing the barriers would be. To help answer this question, this article, the first part of a two-part study, provides an overview of the potential gains of integrating banking and commerce.”
Securities Class Action Litigation: The problem, its impact and the path to reform
U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform – Report - July 2008 – 56 pages
http://www.instituteforlegalreform.com/issues/docload.cfm?docId=1213
“Private securities class action lawsuits present a serious threat to the health of U.S. businesses, the prosperity of American families and the strength of our nation's global competitiveness.. Driven by the multibillion dollar plaintiffs' lawyer industry, the system exacts enormous costs on our economy while betraying the individual investors it is designed to assist." The report suggests a number of potential legislative changes.
Peter Tufano and Daniel Schneider
Using Financial Innovation to Support Savers: From Coercion to Excitement
Harvard Business School - Working Paper - Web posted July 3, 2008 – 59 pages
http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/08-075.pdf
The paper shows the wide range of solutions to the problem of low family savings. Families save for a wide variety of purposes, including education, retirement, and others like rainy days or emergencies. Given societal pressures to consume, and given the diversity among people, there is no single solution to the savings problem. A wide variety of programs that support savings by families, in particular by low- and moderate-income families are reviewed. These programs range from ones that literally compel families to save, to those that make it hard not to save, make it easier to save, provide financial incentives to induce savings, leverage social networks to support savers, and finally, to programs that excite people to saving.
