Reason Foundation

Recent Research and Commentary

Federal Privatization Update

Annual Privatization Report examines privatization and public-private partnership trends at the federal level

April 15, 2013

Adam Summers, Anthony Randazzo, Steven Titch, Victor Nava

The federal section of Reason Foundation's Annual Privatization Report 2013 provides an overview of the latest on federal government privatization and public-private partnerships. Topics include:

A. BCFC Outlines $795 Billion in Federal Budget Savings

B. Congress Takes on Postal Service Reform—Again

C. Space Privatization Update

D. ANALYSIS: Google, Facebook, Antitrust and the “Public Good”

E. ANALYSIS: Private Sector is Best-Positioned to Lead Cybersecurity Policy

F. ANALYSIS: Privatization of Financial Regulation is Not Impossible

» Return to Annual Privatization Report 2013 homepage

ANALYSIS: Privatization of Financial Regulation is Not Impossible

Subsection of Annual Privatization Report 2013: Federal Government Privatization

April 15, 2013

Anthony Randazzo, Victor Nava

This subsection of Reason Foundation's Annual Privatization Report 2013: Federal Government Privatization details miscellaneous news and notes from the privatization of federal government services.

How Obama’s Plan to Encourage Homeownership Will Hurt the Poor the Most

April 3, 2013, 5:33pm

Cathy Reisenwitz

The Obama administration is concerned that even in the midst of the housing market’s recovery, many young people and people with bad credit can’t borrow money to buy homes. Yes, this sounds eerily similar to the policies that helped create the housing bubble in the first place. And yes, while ensuring that homes loans are available to all borrowers is a well-intentioned plan to help low-income families, it will likely hurt them.

Unmasking the Mortgage Interest Deduction - Update 2012

Who Benefits and By How Much?

December 12, 2012

Anthony Randazzo, Dean Stansel

The federal income tax code is riddled with loopholes, deductions and credits designed to promote various social goals and benefit assorted groups of Americans. One of the largest of these is the mortgage interest deduction (MID), which allowed taxpayers to claim benefits of $82.7 billion in 2010, the latest data available. Given the number of recent proposals to change the MID in some way, it is helpful to review which households are claiming the mortgage interest deduction.

In a new policy summary, Reason Foundation offers a update to the 2011 study "Unmasking the Mortgage Interest Deducton" and takes a look at who is currently benefiting from the MID.

Joint Committee on Taxation data shows households making $100,000 or more a year constitute 55 percent of those claiming the MID, and they receive 78 percent of the deduction’s total benefits. The last two columns of our table of the JCT data show the average tax savings that households in each income group receive from the MID, and what those savings represent in monthly savings. For example, the MID saves middle-class households making between $40,000 and $75,000 a year around $80 a month. The MID is not the middle-class savior it is made out to be.

Thinking about Foreclosures and the Fauxcovery

What housing data you should look for in the coming months

October 24, 2012

Anthony Randazzo, Katie Furtick

With a large amount of housing data coming out over the next few days (including the FHFA price data leaked last night), we are likely to see a full range of headlines either proclaiming a continued housing recovery or warning that single data points can’t be considered in isolation. Housing analysts are notorious for their heterogeneous outlook, so this non-convergence of opinion is to be expected. But can we filter through the headline noise to identify which reports are providing the most robust analysis? Sure, just look for the reports that include a comment or two about a coming foreclosure wave—those are the more robust stories. 

The reality is that foreclosures are far from having hit their bottom. They declined after the “robo-signing” scandal in late 2010, which revealed that banks were processing foreclosures too quickly. But this slowdown was the result of procedural changes, not resurgent market strength. A recent Barclay’s forecast estimates foreclosures will be rapidly picking up steam going into 2013 and peaking in 2014 before they actually start to dissipate towards the end of 2014 and beyond. We have replicated their forecast to show a few key events that impacted the numbers.

Does the Paul Ryan Choice Ensure a Real Housing Debate?

Weighing the records of Obama-Biden and Romney-Ryan

August 17, 2012

Samuel Staley, Anthony Randazzo

A standard line in the punditry circuit this week has suggested that Mitt Romney's selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate will bring a welcome measure of substance to the race. If so, then cheers all around. Hopefully, one critical element of the economy and society that has gotten little substantive attention to date will get its due: housing finance and property markets. In principle, a Romney-Ryan Administration should represent a significant break from what President Obama has done in his first term on housing policy. But what do the records show?

More »