Treasury’s GSE Reform Plan: My Top Ten Political Economy Insights

Don Layton

The US Treasury released on September 5th its much-awaited plan for reform of the Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. As directed by the president, it addressed both reforms that could be done via legislation and also those that could be done solely by administrative means. There has and will continue to be much technical commentary on specific items in the fifty-page document. But the simple fact is that because the government backs over two-thirds of all mortgages, the American housing finance system is naturally highly politicized. Accordingly, this article presents Don Layton’s top ten key insights on the “political economy” behind the plan, to explain what is going on, why the recommendations are what they are, and what the path forward might look like.