Recession, Trade and Home Ownership

1. BUSINESS

White House advisors cite the
slowing economy as part of their call for tighter
regulation of mortgage lenders
.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Vice President for Policy Wayne Crews on the real cause of economic sluggishness:

“Politicians of both parties
opportunistically blame markets for an impending recession while paying no heed
to the real culprit: the leviathan that government has become. Like the presidential
working group now contemplating new oversight of mortgage markets, the ‘solution’
is always to expand that leviathan, to impose new controls on businesses and
entrepreneurs.”

2. TRADE

U.S.
exports rise
to historically high levels.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Adjunct Fellow Fran Smith on the record-breaking
trade statistics
:

“With all the negative talk about trade, the Progressive
Policy Institute points out that last year – 2007 – broke the modern record for
U.S.
exports as a percentage of GDP. The 2007 figure was a whopping 11.7
percent – according to some economists, not seen since about 1810…Also, exports
to Peru soared as the U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement went into effect January
2008 – nearly double the exports for January 2007”

 

3. FINANCE

Federal “fair housing” rules share
the blame
for the creating the subprime mortgage meltdown.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Michelle Minton on how best to
expand home ownership and access to credit:

“…the best way to increase access to credit and achieve the
stated goals of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) is by not mandating CRA at
all, but rather to deregulate credit unions and make compliance with CRA
voluntary for both banks and credit unions. In the short term, the government
should limit CRA’s reach and level the playing field between banks and credit
unions by exempting smaller banks and thrifts from the Act..”

 

Blog feature: For more news and analysis, updated throughout the
day, visit CEI’s blog, Open Market.

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION

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