Key elements of recent policy initiatives, such as the revised HARP program and the Fed’s “Twist,” have focused on either pushing down fixed mortgage rates or taking advantage of their current low levels. In addition to the Fed’s actions, many observers have placed a devotional faith in the Fed’s ability, as Lawrence Summers wrote in a recent op-ed piece in the Washington Post, to “…support demand and the housing market by again expanding purchases of mortgage-backed securities.” However, an underappreciated threat to the mortgage and housing markets is the reliance of many American borrowers on low Libor rates. This means that the Fed and other policymakers must be aware of the vulnerability of the U.S. housing markets to rate spikes resulting from upheavals in the European financial system.

Originally published in the October issue of Asset Securitization Report (www.sourcemedia.com)

Investors have recently focused on the difficulties encountered by the European banks, which hold huge amounts of troubled sovereign debt. However, I am quite worried over the state of the banking system in the United States. The recent changes to monetary policy by the Fed, the attempt by state attorneys general to coerce an onerous settlement over flawed servicing practices, and a continued litigation feeding frenzy have put the domestic banking system at risk. Whatever the legitimate grievances, the desire to both punish the banks and obtain reparations for past practices risks pushing the financial system into a new and immensely damaging crisis.