Fed’s mortgage-backed securities purchases sought calm, accommodation during pandemic
We explore the Federal Reserve’s purchases of agency MBS—mortgage bonds guaranteed by Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—and related market dynamics during the pandemic, including why mortgage rates fell to historic lows.
August 26, 2021
The Paycheck Protection Program: Conditional Success or Unconditional Failure?
The Paycheck Protection Program, a key provision of the CARES Act, sought to stabilize small business finances and maintain employment.
June 22, 2021
Southwest Economy, Second Quarter 2021
Banks face new challenges as Texas rebounds from COVID-19 shock
The banking industry faced significant challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, with profitability declining to levels not seen since the 2008–09 financial crisis.
June 18, 2021
Private subprime mortgages challenged FHA during 2000s housing boom
Considerable research has been devoted to better understanding the meteoric rise of the PLS subprime mortgage market in the early-to-mid 2000s. But an important aspect has been largely ignored: The simultaneous decline in mortgage originations with Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insurance.
May 11, 2021
Globalization Institute Working Paper
Optimal Bailouts in Banking and Sovereign Crises
This paper finds that larger bailouts relax financial frictions and increase output but increase fiscal needs and default risk.
February 27, 2021
Energy financing trends consistent with renewables’ growth
Equity markets appear to favor renewable-energy producers relative to their hydrocarbon counterparts. However, the relatively smaller size of many renewables projects complicates direct comparisons of bank lending to hydrocarbon and renewable entities.
February 23, 2021
COVID-19 exposes mortgage market vulnerabilities that led to volatility, Fed intervention
The COVID-19-induced financial market shock in March 2020 significantly disrupted the market for agency mortgage-backed securities.
February 02, 2021
Does homeownership provide an escape from high rent burdens?
Many first-time homebuyers—often with little savings and vulnerable to economic shocks—obtain their mortgages through the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan program. Often, these borrowers are moving from apartments and have presumably weighed the costs of renting versus owning.
January 05, 2021
Highly indebted FHA borrowers at special risk as COVID-19 forbearance ends
The situation appears most urgent for those borrowers who entered the crisis with a high debt load and little room to financially navigate without forbearance.
September 29, 2020
Southwest Economy, Second Quarter 2020
COVID-19, oil price collapse dimming outlook for banks in 2020
Eleventh District banks face challenges from instability in the energy sector and economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
June 23, 2020