ARNOLD KLING
August 14, 2011
The Top Political Contributors
August 11, 2011
Gender and the New Commanding Heights
August 11, 2011
Jamie Galbraith Makes an Assumption
August 11, 2011
Macroeconometrics: The Science of Hubris
August 10, 2011
Real and Nominal Bond Yields
BRYAN CAPLAN
August 14, 2011
The Effect of Thumb Sucking on Income
August 12, 2011
The Voice of Cold, Hard Truth to All Would-Be Educators
August 12, 2011
Ability, Morality, and Prosperity: A Paper and a Report
August 11, 2011
The Theory of Time and Frittering
August 10, 2011
Male Variance and the Remnants of the Gender Gap
DAVID HENDERSON
August 9, 2011
Hayek in "Unbroken", Part Two
August 8, 2011
Hayek in "Unbroken"
August 5, 2011
James Bovard on the Peace Corps
August 4, 2011
Summers Way Off on FDR and 1941
August 3, 2011
The "Amazon" Tax
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Arnold, my guess is that you are half happy about Frank's comment. You like the idea, but what about all the other government incentives that surround housing? What good is eliminating securitization without limiting all the other government incentives for housing? Reducing securitization just transfers the risks around.
On the other hand, this raises a good question: what is the one thing we want to get out of financial regulation reform? I don't think I'd put less securitization on top. I think I'd start with less concentration, but I'll willing to hear other ideas.
I don't disagree with Barney Frank's view of securitization now. My point is that back when it mattered, he was the world's biggest proponent of anything that made mortgage credit cheaper and more lenient, including securitization.
And when the lack of securitization makes lending more expensive, we will see other interventions to bring the price back down...oh...wait... we are already seeing this. My bad.
Interestingly, the second most important thing about financial regulation turns out to be limiting Barney Frank.