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Daily Archives: April 7, 2010

Speech by Fed Chairman Bernanke on past, present, and future economic challenges

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Chairman Ben S. Bernanke At the Dallas Regional Chamber, Dallas, Texas, April 7, 2010, Economic Challenges: Past, Present, and Future

  • “The financial crisis that began in the summer of 2007 was an extraordinarily complex event with multiple causes. Its immediate trigger was a downturn in the national housing market that followed a long period of rapid construction and rising home prices. The housing slump in turn brought to light some very poor lending practices, especially for subprime mortgages extended to less-creditworthy borrowers. Relative to the global financial system, the market for subprime mortgages was quite small, probably less than 1 percent of global financial assets. How, then, did problems in this market appear to have such widespread consequences? One important reason is that the subprime mortgage market was closely linked to a broader framework for credit provision that came to be known as the shadow banking system. That broader framework, at least as it was structured during the run-up to the crisis, proved deeply flawed.”
  • Related postings on financial system

    • Preliminary Staff Report: The Community Reinvestment Act and the Mortgage Crisis – Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission

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    Preliminary Staff Report: The Community Reinvestment Act and the Mortgage Crisis – Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC)| April 7, 2010: “The purpose of this preliminary staff report is to provide background on the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). Section I provides background on the CRA. Section II discusses the evidence on CRA’s contribution to an increase… Continue Reading

    Preliminary Staff Report: The Mortgage Crisis – Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission

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    Preliminary Staff Report: The Mortgage Crisis – Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC)| April 7, 2010: “The purpose of this preliminary staff report is to describe the recent mortgage crisis, which entailed a dramatic drop in home prices beginning in 2006 and a sharp rise in mortgage defaults beginning in 2007. Section I describes the origination… Continue Reading

    Preliminary Staff Report: Government Sponsored Enterprises and the Financial Crisis – Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission

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    Preliminary Staff Report: Government Sponsored Enterprises and the Financial Crisis Financial – Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) | April 7, 2010: “This preliminary staff report provides information on the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA or Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC or Freddie Mac), the companies’ attributes as government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), and… Continue Reading

    Preliminary Staff Report: The Role of the Federal Reserve in Banking Supervision and Regulation – Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission

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    Preliminary Staff Report: The Role of the Federal Reserve in Banking Supervision and Regulation, Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) | April 7, 2010: “The purpose of this preliminary staff report is to provide a brief overview of the role of the Federal Reserve in banking supervision and regulation. The first section describes the structure of… Continue Reading

    Preliminary Staff Report: Securitization and the Mortgage Crisis – Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission

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    Preliminary Staff Report: Securitization and the Mortgage Crisis, Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) | April 7, 2010 “The purpose of this preliminary staff report is to provide an overview of mortgage securitization and its possible role in the sharp increase in mortgage defaults that precipitated the financial crisis. Section I describes the growth and basic… Continue Reading

    New Study: Climate Change Threatening Glacier National Park Could Harm Montana's Future Tourism and Economy

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    News release: “The last decade in Glacier National Park saw exactly double the temperature increase for the planet as a whole. The effects of this warming threaten Glacier National Park’s resources, from glaciers and snow-capped mountains to wildlife and forests, as well as the Montana jobs and tourism revenue the park generates, according to a… Continue Reading

    Extended Range Forecast of Atlantic Seasonal Hurricane Activity and Landfall Strike Probability for 2010

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    Extended Range Forecast of Atlantic Seasonal Hurricane Activity and Landfall Strike Probability for 2010, by Philip J. Klotzbach and William M. Gray, Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University “We continue to foresee above-average activity for the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season. We have increased our seasonal forecast from the mid-point of our initial early December… Continue Reading

    Administration Announces Releases of Federal Agencies Open Government Plans

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    “Today, U.S. departments and agencies are releasing their Open Government Plans — another historic milestone in President Obama’s campaign to change Washington. For too many years, Washington has resisted the oversight of the American public, resulting in difficulties in finding information, taxpayer dollars disappearing without a trace, and lobbyists wielding undue influence. For Americans, business… Continue Reading