Academic

The McCain-Palin Salvo on Fannie Mae--Skeel

By David Skeel and Bill Stuntz

I may be over-reading the McCain-Palin op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac this morning, but it seems to me to mark a sharp break from the Bush administration on the subprime crisis. Not on the bailout itself. Just about everyone seems to agree that bailout was inevitable, and that the question was simply when it was going to take place. The break, it seems to me, is in the proposals for mortgage lending going forward. The Bush administration has relied almost entirely on jawboning and voluntary measures. McCain-Palin seem to be advocating substantially more governmental intervention. They suggest that they would establish a minimum downpayment requirement for loans guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, and would impose new disclosure requirements for derivative securities.

I wonder if this means we'll be hearing a little less about tax cuts in the next two months, and more about Teddy Roosevelt-style corporate and financial reform.

Full post as published by Less than the Least on September 09, 2008 (boomark / email).