My faves for the day (July 18, 2009)

FRBSF: The Current Economy and the Economic Outlook (Mark Thoma at Economist's View)

Where the foreclosures are (James at Bubble Meter)

The first public healthcare program (The Economic History blog)

Video-o-rama: Goldman Sachs ad nauseam Econ-related videos as well, Shiller, Roubini, Ritholz, to name a few! (Prieur du Plessis at Investment Postcards from Cape Town blog)

The June CPI release: Deflation isn't here, and the chances that it will arrive are receding (Stephen Gordon at Worthwhile Canadian Initiatives blog)

The Pre-election Blues in Japan (Floyd Norris at the NY Times)

Rebecca Wilder

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Update on the MBS purchase programs

The Fed owns roughly 12% of the stock of GSE-guaranteed mortgage-backed securities (MBS). Tack on the purchase program at the Treasury, and the government owns roughly 15% of the MBS stock. Try unwinding that quickly.

A note on data sources: To approximate the stock of MBS, I add the recent recorded net-acquisitions by the Fed and the Treasury to the stock of MBS at the end of Q1 2009 (don't know the private acquisitions), as recorded in the Fed Flow of Funds tables (table L.125 here). Total Fed net-purchase must be calculated by tallying up the NY Fed's weekly purchases here. And the Treasury acquisitions are released in its monthly statement.

Rebecca Wilder

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Quote for the day

I am a little late in reading this article, but it is good. And here is my favorite quote:

"By now almost everyone knows that for decades mortgage dealers insisted that home buyers be able to produce a down payment of 10 percent or more, show a steady income and good credit rating, and possess a real first and last name. Then, at the dawn of the new millennium, they suddenly threw all that shit out the window and started writing mortgages on the backs of napkins to cocktail waitresses and excons carrying five bucks and a Snickers bar."

-- Matt Taibbi, author of The Great American Bubble Machine

Economic charts to come.... Rebecca Wilder

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