The CATO Institute’s CEO, John A. Allison, is making the case that free markets not government are the solution to what caused the banking crisis. In his book,”The Financial Crisis and the Free Market Cure: Why Pure Capitalism is the World Economy’s Only Hope.” In a column to AB, Allison states that: “Many life insurance companies and other investors like having government guarantees on their assets (via Freddie, Fannie, or the FHA). However, this is very destructive public policy because it pushes the risk to taxpayers and not market participants.” Alison also said, “A major component of the solution will be provided by existing commercial banks that retain home mortgages in their portfolios the way the S&Ls did. One of the few major economic systems to have limited problems as a result of the financial crisis is Canada. One reason the Canadian banks did relatively well is that they portfolio home mortgages. While there are some housing subsidies in Canada, the banks do not have to compete with the government, that is, Freddie, Fannie, and the FHA. Also, since the banks were holding the mortgages on their books, they cared about the credit risk and underwrote the risk rationally.”
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