The headlines pointing to illegal accounting schemes at Freddie Mac and now Fannie Mae have drawn public attention to the need for serious overhaul in the way these two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) do business. AEI's Financial Deregulation Project, led by Peter J. Wallison, has been critically appraising the activities of these companies for several years and analyzing their relation to the housing sector and the economy as a whole. This page contains links to the main output of the project--books, other writings, and events--including the recently released book by Wallison, Thomas H. Stanton, and Bert Ely on how and why the housing GSEs ought to be privatized.
Scholars and Authors
| Peter J. Wallison is an AEI resident fellow and the codirector of AEI's program on financial market deregulation. As the general counsel of the Treasury Department from 1981 to 1985, Wallison helped develop the Reagan administration's proposals for deregulating the financial services industry. His many books include among others Serving Two Masters Yet out of Control: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (editor; AEI Press, 2002); Nationalizing Mortgage Risk: The Growth of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (with Bert Ely; AEI Press, 2000); and Privatizing Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks: Why and How (with Thomas H. Stanton and Bert Ely; AEI Press, 2004). | |  | Alex J. Pollock joined AEI in 2004 as a resident fellow after being president and chief executive officer of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago from 1991 to 2004. A long-time banker, Pollock is continuing his work on the U.S. financial system and banking structure, government-sponsored enterprises, the Federal Home Loan Bank System, and accounting standards (FASB). Thomas H. Stanton is a Washington, D.C., attorney who specializes in the design and administration of federal programs, especially with respect to credit and financial institutions. He is presently a fellow of the Center for the Study of American Government at the Johns Hopkins University. His books include an earlier book on government-sponsored enterprises, A State of Risk (HarperCollins, 1991), and Government-Sponsored Enterprises: Mercantilist Companies in the Modern World (AEI Press, 2002). Bert Ely has specialized in deposit insurance and banking structure since 1981. In 1986, he became an early predictor of the Savings & Loan crisis and of a taxpayer bailout of the FSLIC. Ely continuously monitors conditions in the banking and S&L industries, monetary policy, and the growing federalization of credit risk. |
Books
Short Publications and Opinion Pieces
"Fixing Fannie Mae," by Alex J. Pollock (Washington Times op-ed, January 2005)
"The Next Steps in Reforming the Housing GSEs: Creating the Common Regulator and Enhancing Competition," by Alex J. Pollock (AEI's Financial Services Outlook, November 2004)
"No Accounting for Hedging: FAS 133 Led Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Astray," by Alex J. Pollock (article in Barron's, November 2004)
"Power and Marching Orders for a Strong New GSE Regulator," by Alex J. Pollock (article in the American Banker, November 2004)
"The 2004 Election: GSE Reform on the Way," by Alex J. Pollock (article in National Mortgage News, November 2004)
"How to Privatize Fannie, Freddie," by Peter J. Wallison (article in the American Banker, October 2004)
"Fannie and Freddie Should Be Privatized," by Peter J. Wallison (Financial Times op-ed, September 2004)
"The Housing GSEs: Through Competition to Privatization," by Alex J. Pollock (AEI's Financial Services Outlook, August 2004)
"The Case for Privatizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Grows Stronger," by Peter J. Wallison (AEI's Financial Services Outlook, May 2004)
"Applying the Microsoft Decision to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac," by Peter J. Wallison (paper, July 2001)
"The Fundamental Problem with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac," by Peter J. Wallison (AEI's On the Issues reprints, December 2000)
"Leveraging Uncle Sam," by Peter J. Wallison (AEI's On the Issues reprints, March 2000)
Events on Wallison, Stanton, and Ely's Plan for Privatizing the Housing GSEs
Book Forum (October 2004): "Privatizing Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks"
Speakers: Peter J. Wallison, Thomas H. Stanton, Bert Ely, Alex J. Pollock, and Desmond Lachman
Conference (March 2004): "The Privatization of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks"
Speakers: Thomas H. Stanton, Bert Ely, and Peter J. Wallison
Conference (February 2004): "Plan for the Privatization of the Housing GSEs"
Speakers: Wayne Abernathy, Bert Ely, Thomas H. Stanton, Stuart McFarland, Robert Van Order, and Peter J. Wallison
Seminar (January 2004): "Plan for Privatizing the Housing GSEs"
Speakers: Bert Ely, Thomas H. Stanton, Charles W. Calomiris, Dwight Jaffee, Lawrence White, and Peter J. Wallison
Seminar (October 2003): "Proposals for the Privatization of the Housing GSEs"
Speakers: Thomas H. Stanton, Bert Ely, and Peter J. Wallison
Related Events
Seminar (February 2005): "Do Fannie and Freddie Charge Too Much for Guaranteeing Mortgage-Backed Securities?"
Speakers: Jay Brinkmann, Alex J. Pollock, Alden Toevs, Lawrence White, and Peter J. Wallison
Seminar (February 2005): "Receivership Powers: What Are They and Should Fannie and Freddie's Regulator Have Them?"
Speakers: Richard S. Carnell, Robert Eisenbeis, Michael DeStefano, Patrick Lawler, and Peter J. Wallison
Panel Discussion (October 2004): "Understanding OFHEO's Report on Fannie Mae"
Speakers: John Barnett, Bert Ely, Mark Haefele, Dwight Jaffee, and Peter J. Wallison
Seminar (September 2004): "HUD's Affordable Housing Regulations: Serving Two Masters Redux"
Speakers: John C. Weicher, Jay Brinkmann, Jonathan Brown, Anne Canfield, and Peter J. Wallison
Seminar (April 2004): "Do We Understand Fannie Mae's Accounting?"
Speakers: John Barnett, Mark Haefele, Albert Gavalis, and Peter J. Wallison
Seminar (March 2004): "Does the United States Really Have the Best Housing-Finance System in the World?"
Speakers: Hans-Joachim Duebel, Bert Ely, Alex J. Pollock, and Peter J. Wallison
Conference (February 2004): "Government Policy and Financial Market Stability: The Case of Fannie Mae"
Speakers: Franklin D. Raines, Eugene Ludwig, David Gross, Robert Shapiro, Peter J. Wallison, Desmond Lachman, Peter Niculescu, Kevin A. Hassett, and Desmond Lachman
Seminar (June 2003): "Are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Meeting Their Obligations to Promote Minority and Low-Income Home Ownership?"
Speakers: Jonathan Brown, Richard A. Williams, Peter Zorn, and Peter J. Wallison
Conference (October 2002): "Do Lower Mortgage Rates Increase Homeownership?"
Speakers: Joseph McKenzie, Frank Nothaft, Howard Savage, Susan Wachter, Anthony Yezer, Peter J. Wallison, and Ron Feldman
Conference (June 2002): "Are Fannie and Freddie Adequately Disclosing What Investors Need?"
Speakers: Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), Bert Ely, W. Scott Frame, Dwight M. Jaffee, Larry D. Wall, Ed Golding, Ray Soifer, Steven D. Thomas, Susan E. Woodward, and Peter J. Wallison
Book Forum (April 2002): "Government-Sponsored Enterprises: Mercantilist Companies in the Modern World"
SpeakFrs: Thomas H. Stanton, Sallyanne Payton, Alfred Pollard, Robert Van Order, and Peter J. Wallison
Lecture (October 2001): "The Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Subsidy: CBO Replies"
Speaker: Dan L. Crippen
Conference (July 2001): "The Law and Economics of Anticompetitive Behavior by Public Enterprises"
Speakers: Dennis E. Logue, John R. Lott Jr., J. Gregory Sidak, Peter J. Wallison, and Rick Geddes
Book Forum (June 2001): "Updating Nationalizing Mortgage Risk"
Speakers: Bert Ely and Peter J. Wallison
Conference (May 2000): "Thinking about the Future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac"
Main speakers: Rep. Richard H. Baker (R-La.), Mark G. Overand, Stephen Moore, Dwight Jaffe, Alex Pollock, Thomas H. Stanton, William Apgar, John Weicher, John Brown, Francis X. Cavanaugh, and Ron Feldman
Book Forum (March 2000): "Nationalizing Mortgage Risk: The Growth of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac"
Speakers: Peter J. Wallison and Bert Ely
AEI-Brookings Joint Center Event (February 2000): "Incentives for Anticompetitive Behavior by Public Enterprises"
Speakers: David E. M. Sappington, J. Gregory Sidak, and Robert W. Hahn
Other Resources
AEI sponsors the Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee, a group of publicly recognized, independent experts on the financial services industry, including banking, insurance, and securities. During its quarterly AEI briefings, the committee has issued a number of statements on the housing GSEs:
