Reason Foundation

Recent Research and Commentary

New at Reason: The Revamped HAMP and Some Corrections for the Record

February 3, 2012, 4:35pm

Anthony Randazzo

Over at Reason.com, I have a piece today commenting on the revamped HAMP (coming on the heals of "new" new changes to HARP) program announced by the White House last week.

President’s “New” New Refi Plan Turns Out to Be Secret Stimulus

February 2, 2012, 2:38pm

Anthony Randazzo

Last week on the blog we noted that the President sounded like he was proposing a secret stimulus in his State of the Union by talking about helping out the housing market and suggesting a new refinance program (or “new” new refi program since HARP 2.0 was just a few months ago). It looks like our fears were mostly justified.

Freddie Didn't Bet Against Homeowners, It Gambled With Taxpayer Money

January 31, 2012, 9:12am

Anthony Randazzo

This is one of the last places you will find me defending Freddie Mac, but as much as I would like to pile on to the recent story that Freddie "bet against homeowners" the reality is that the nature of the story completely misses the point: Freddie gambled with taxpayer money.

Still Considering Strategic Defaults

January 30, 2012, 8:07am

Anthony Randazzo

I received an email this weekend from a reader asking about the effectiveness of strategic defaults. Even though this has been long debated, the continued weakness in housing has kept the discussion alive.

The Secret Stimulus in the President's New Refinance Program

January 25, 2012, 8:59am

Anthony Randazzo

The main critique of this program is that it is a stimulus program disguised as a program to help the housing market which actually only transfers money from financial institutions to homeowners who have been making mortgage payments while disregarding mortgage investors who include not just fat cats, but grandma too.

FHFA Says Principal Reductions Would Cost Taxpayers $100 Billion

January 23, 2012, 5:23pm

Anthony Randazzo

FHFA has produced analysis for the House Oversight Committee suggesting that a principal reduction program applied just to underwater loans held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would cost the mortgage giants more than $100 billion.

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