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Thomas SowellIBD Exclusive Series: Thomas Sowell on The Politics of the Housing Boom (Fifth and final installment of serieesCongressional support for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac went far beyond words. When the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight — the agency overseeing these government-sponsored enterprises — turned up irregularities in Fannie Mae's accounting and in 2004 issued what Barron's magazine called "a blistering 211-page report," Republican Sen. Kit Bond called for an investigation of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, tried to have their budget slashed and sought to have the leadership of the regulatory agency removed. Democratic Congressman...

This is the fourth of five parts of a Monday series excerpting Thomas Sowell's latest book, "The Housing Boom and Bust."IBD Exclusive Series: Thomas Sowell on The Politics of the Housing BoomFederal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan was the best-known public figure to issue warnings on the housing boom. His warnings, like those of the secretary of the treasury and the head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., were delivered directly to Congress, while testifying there. Greenspan over the years moved from expressions of mild concern to a more dire view of the situation. In 2005, Greenspan testified: "Although a bubbling...

This is the third installment of a Monday series excerpting the chapter on political causes from Thomas Sowell's latest book, "The Housing Boom and Bust."IBD Exclusive Series: Thomas Sowell on The Politics of the Housing BoomIn 2002, the George W. Bush administration urged Congress to pass the American Dream Downpayment Act, which subsidized the down payments of prospective homebuyers whose incomes were below a certain level. After passage of that act, the president also urged Congress to pass legislation permitting the Federal Housing Administration to begin making zero-down-payment loans at low interest rates to low-income Americans. In 2004, Federal Housing...

This is the second installment of a Monday series excerpting the chapter on political implications from Thomas Sowell's latest book, "The Housing Boom and Bust."IBD Exclusive Series: Thomas Sowell on The Politics of the Housing BoomIn recent times, government officials have increasingly pressured banks and other lenders to lend to people whom they would not lend to otherwise. One of the first federal government efforts to change the process of mortgage lending by private financial institutions was the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977. Like many government policies or programs, it began small and grew in scope and severity over the...

Housing Bust: Sowell Series Starts Today Following up on the well-received series by Thomas Sowell on "The Economics of Medical Care," IBD today begins excerpts from Sowell's latest book, "The Housing Boom and Bust," a chronicle of the biggest economic disaster of our time. We are doing so because causes of that debacle still aren't understood and because many of the same mistakes are being made now — in some cases by the same politicians — in efforts to overhaul America's medical and financial systems. The series starts below and will run in five Monday installments. It excerpts the chapter...