Drawing a sharp distinction between himself and the two Democratic presidential candidates, Senator John McCain of Arizona warned Tuesday against vigorous government action to solve the deepening mortgage crisis and the market turmoil it has caused, saying that “it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers.”Both democrat candidates have called for the federal government to create a fund to provide "relief" for those facing foreclosure.
I haven't watched this issue closely, but it seems to me taking the policy position that government should not save those who act irresponsibly is a good policy position to take.
Of course, since this is about mortgages, it would also seem relevant to point out the federal government is already in the business of subsidizing home mortgages because of government entitites that provide mortgages (e.g. FHA), and because of mortgage interest deductions from federal income tax liabilities. Perhaps we could guess that the federal government's subsidies had already caused an inefficiently large number of mortgages before the present crisis, and perhaps at least some of those facing foreclosure today are among those inefficient mortgages.
No comments:
Post a Comment