Resolving large financial intermediaries: banks versus housing enterprises

This paper examines the policy issues with respect to resolving the possible failure of housing enterprises Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. The authors compare and contrast these issues with those raised in the context of large bank failures and also identify important differences in the extant supervisory authorities. Based on these discussions, they offer a number of policy suggestions designed to minimize the cost of resolution and protect taxpayers from loss should a large bank or housing enterprise fail.

An analysis of the systemic risks posed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and an evaluation of the policy options for reducing those risks

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are government-sponsored enterprises that are central players in U.S. secondary mortgage markets. Over the past decade, these institutions have amassed enormous mortgage- and non-mortgage-oriented investment portfolios that pose significant interest-rate risks to the companies and a systemic risk to the financial system. This paper describes the nature of these risks and systemic concerns and then evaluates several policy options for reducing the institutions’ investment portfolios. We conclude that limits on portfolio size (assets or liabilities) would be the most desirable approach to mitigating the systemic risk posed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Perceptions of Iowa Beginning Farmers Toward the Delivery of Education

The results of this research show that Iowa beginning farmers prefer radio and information services for the delivery of beginning farmer education. At the same time, these same farmers viewed the Extension Service as an important educational provider. Research was conducted to identify the perceptions of beginning farmers toward education, educational providers, and educational media. A sample of beginning farmers was surveyed in 1997. This study revealed they prefer on-site educational instruction, single meetings, community-based education, and were “neutral” (had no opinion) about the future usefulness of cutting-edge technologies as a delivery method. The results of this study should be useful to educational providers who plan and deliver education to beginning farmers

Recent Developments in the Law of the Sea 1976-1977

This Article discusses the major developments occurring between January 1, 1976, and March 1, 1977, in this increasingly important area of law. This Article concentrates on the two sessions of the United Nations Conference on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and on miscellaneous significant events

The Devil's in the Tail: Residential Mortgage Finance and the U.S. Treasury

This paper seeks to contribute to the U.S. housing finance reform conversation by providing a critical assessment of the various types of policy proposals that have been offered. There appears to be a broad consensus to maintain explicit government guarantees for certain narrowly defined borrower populations, such as FHA insurance guarantees for low- and moderate-income and first-time homebuyers. However, the expected role of the federal government in the broader housing finance system is in dispute: ranging from no role; to insuring against only extreme or tail events; to insuring against all losses. However, most proposals agree that any public insurance be priced and available only for loans meeting pre-specified criteria in an effort to limit taxpayer exposure

Retained Ownership of Beef Cattle When Considering Production and Price Risk

Livestock Production/Industries,

Lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, and stable-isotope stratigraphy of cores from ODP Leg 105 site surveys, Labrador Sea and Baffin Bay

Trigger weight (TWC) and piston (PC) cores obtained from surveys of the three sites drilled during Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 105 were studied in detail for benthic foraminiferal assemblages, total carbonate (all sites), planktonic foraminiferal abundances (Sites 645 and 647), and stable isotopes (Sites 646 and 647). These high-resolution data provide the link between modern environmental conditions represented by the sediment in the TWC and the uppermost cores of the ODP holes. This link provides essential control data for interpretating late Pleistocene paleoceanographic records from these core holes. At Site 645 in Baffin Bay, local correlation is difficult because the area is dominated by ice-rafted deposits and by debris flows and/or turbidite sedimentation. At the two Labrador Sea sites (646 and 647), the survey cores and uppermost ODP cores can be correlated. High-resolution data from the site survey cores also provide biostratigraphic data that refine the interpretations compiled from core-catcher samples at each ODP site

Autonomous system identification and control of MACE II using the Frequency Domain Expert algorithm

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/77122/1/AIAA-1999-4586-175.pd

Non-equilibrium dynamics and floral trait interactions shape extant angiosperm diversity.

Why are some traits and trait combinations exceptionally common across the tree of life, whereas others are vanishingly rare? The distribution of trait diversity across a clade at any time depends on the ancestral state of the clade, the rate at which new phenotypes evolve, the differences in speciation and extinction rates across lineages, and whether an equilibrium has been reached. Here we examine the role of transition rates, differential diversification (speciation minus extinction) and non-equilibrium dynamics on the evolutionary history of angiosperms, a clade well known for the abundance of some trait combinations and the rarity of others. Our analysis reveals that three character states (corolla present, bilateral symmetry, reduced stamen number) act synergistically as a key innovation, doubling diversification rates for lineages in which this combination occurs. However, this combination is currently less common than predicted at equilibrium because the individual characters evolve infrequently. Simulations suggest that angiosperms will remain far from the equilibrium frequencies of character states well into the future. Such non-equilibrium dynamics may be common when major innovations evolve rarely, allowing lineages with ancestral forms to persist, and even outnumber those with diversification-enhancing states, for tens of millions of years

The Rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Staff Report including the following:- Describes and evaluates the measures taken by the U.S. government to rescue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in September 2008. - Outlines the business model of these two firms and their role in the U.S. housing finance system. - The sources of financial distress that the firms experienced and the events that ultimately led the government to take action. - Describes the various resolution options available to policymakers. - Evaluates the success of the choice of conservatorship and other actions taken