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- Blog Post
CBO examined 28 options that encompass a broad range of discretionary programs. About a third of the options would affect defense programs; the rest are for nondefense programs.
- Blog Post
How is FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance fund structured and can it run out of funds?
- Blog Post
What role should the government play in the secondary market for residential mortgages, and what should become of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? CBO has analyzed some of the key choices to be made regarding the future structure of that market.
- Blog Post
Director Doug Elmendorf participated in a panel discussion about why the world economy has been performing poorly. He explained that the most costly economic problem in this country today is the large number of people who cannot find jobs.
- Blog Post
By 2012, more than 95 percent of new mortgages were federally guaranteed. CBO expects that percentage to drop sharply in coming years under current law.
- Blog Post
Today CBO released the latest in a series of statutory reports on transactions undertaken as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)—the program established in October 2008, during the financial crisis, to enable the Department of the Treasury to promote stability in financial markets through the purchase and guarantee of "troubled assets." CBO also updated its infographic on the TARP, which summarizes the most pertinent details about the program since its inception: the types of assistance, cash disbursements,
- Blog Post
The federal government supports some private activities—such as home ownership, postsecondary education, and certain commercial ventures—by making or guaranteeing loans. At the end of fiscal year 2011, about $2.7 trillion was outstanding in federal direct loans and loan guarantees.
- Blog Post
Until recently the obligations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—two federally chartered institutions (called government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs) that provide credit guarantees for almost half of the outstanding mortgages in the United States—had no official backing from the federal government, nor were any costs associated with them reflected in the federal budget. However, starting in 2007, their losses mounted sharply as housing prices dropped and foreclosure rates climbed.
- Blog Post
Over the past two years, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has guaranteed more than 17 percent of new and refinanced mortgages on single-family homes in the United States. The estimated lifetime costs of FHAs single-family mortgage insurance program are recorded in the federal budget using a methodology spelled out in the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 (FCRA). Using the FCRA methodology, CBO estimates that the program will produce budgetary savings of $4.4 billion in fiscal year 2012.
- Blog Post
This morning Joseph Kile, CBOs Assistant Director for Microeconomic Studies, testified before the Senate Finance Committee to discuss the federal role in paying for highways. The testimony draws on several recent CBO publications on highways and other infrastructure. Status of the Highway Trust Fund