The Obama administration has just announced a special summit, the Conference on the Future of Housing Finance. From the Treasury announcement:
Today, the Obama Administration announced expanded opportunities for public engagement on the future of our nation’s housing finance system, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These events, which will include a major conference in Washington, D.C., will help provide critical public input as the Administration continues its work developing a comprehensive housing finance reform proposal for delivery to Congress by January 2011. […]
On August 17, the Obama Administration will host a Conference on the Future of Housing Finance in Washington D.C.at the Treasury Department. This event will bring together leading academic experts, consumer and community organizations, industry groups, market participants, and other stakeholders for an open discussion about housing finance reform.
I am skeptical at the outset that the conference will really bring together all the stakeholders (i.e. the free marketers may be left out in the cold), but the speaker line up hasn’t been announced yet. We can only hope this isn’t a sham designed to promote the Treasury’s agenda as the baseline from which the debate will take off with the next Congress. More to come as the story develops.
Back in April I testified before the House Financial Services Committee on what should be done to fix the GSEs. Here is a link to that testimony.