Friday, August 10, 2007

Money For Nothing And Checks For Free: Recent Developments in U.S. SUBPRIME MORTGAGE MARKETS

I know it's off topic but how many times are you going to see a chapter title like that in an International Monetary Fund publication?

A different song that sometimes gets stuck in my head might better explain my mood:
"All my bets are locked,
I'm ready to go..."

Here's some weekend reading (starting on page 37 of a 61 page PDF):

This paper reviews the history and structure of the subprime market.
The results
suggest that new origination and funding technology appear to have made the financial system more stable at the expense of undermining the effectiveness of consumer protection regulation. Potential solutions to the management of this trade-off are then explored.

Hat Tip: Risk, Over the Counter from whom I quote:

Meanwhile, Knopfler et al. remain regrettably silent on the crisis: the authors write in a footnote

2. Although some might describe the subprime market as in dire straits, none of the views in this paper should necessarily be ascribed to the rock band of that name.