e21 Managing Director Christopher Papagianis Testifies Before the Committee on Financial Services
Statement by Christopher Papagianis
Managing Director & Policy Director
e21: Economic Policies for the 21st Century
Before the Committee on Financial Services
U.S. House of Representatives
“The Future of Housing Finance – A Review of Proposals to Address Market Structure and Transition”
September 29, 2010
Christopher Papagianis is Managing Director and Policy Director at e21: Economic Policies for the 21st Century. e21 (also known as Economics21) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to economic research and innovative public policy development. Mr. Papagianis was previously Special Assistant for Domestic Policy to President George W. Bush. In this role, he guided the collaborative process within the Executive Branch to develop and implement policies, legislation, and regulations across numerous agencies, including the Departments of Treasury and Housing and Urban Development. He briefed the President primarily on housing and finance issues. Prior to joining the administration, Mr. Papagianis worked in the U.S. Senate as one of the top policy advisers to Senator Jim Talent. Mr. Papagianis helped the Senator develop housing and public finance policy. Before serving in the U.S. government, Mr. Papagianis was awarded the prestigious Peabody Fellowship by Harvard University to pursue research related to public policy issues. Mr. Papagianis is also a graduate of Harvard College.
Chairman Frank, Ranking Member Bachus, and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify on the important topic of the future of housing finance. I am the Managing Director of the non-profit think tank e21: Economic Policies for the 21st Century (a.k.a Economics21). We aim to advance free enterprise, fiscal discipline, economic growth, and the rule of law. Drawing on the expertise of practitioners, policymakers, and academics, our mission is to help foster a spirited debate about the way forward for democratic capitalism. We are supportive of free markets while recognizing the need to devise and implement a reasonable structure of law and regulation that will help ensure our markets avoid catastrophic events in the future. We are therefore focused on developing policies that advance market performance and implementing rules to prevent market malfunction.
Previously, I was Special Assistant for Domestic Policy to President George W. Bush. In this role, I helped guide the collaborative process within the Executive Branch to develop and implement policies, legislation, and regulations across numerous agencies, including the Departments of Treasury and Housing and Urban Development.
Over the last year, a consensus has started to emerge that the main goal in addressing housing finance reform should be to promote the efficient allocation of credit to financing single-family and multi-family housing. Fundamental to this objective is a restructuring of our housing finance system, which includes resolving the conservatorships of the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) and rationalizing all of the other ways the government subsidizes housing.
As the financial and housing markets are still fragile, a top priority in this process must be an orderly transition. Already, Congress has taken important steps to address certain aspects of the mortgage market through the Dodd-Frank legislation. Important provisions include, credit risk retention requirements, minimum standards on a borrower’s ability to repay, and limits on the ways loan originators can be compensated. How these provisions, along with others, are implemented through regulation in the coming months has important implications for the future of housing finance and the GSEs.
Today, I will focus on:
1. Principles for a transition.
2. Rationalizing and streamlining federal housing programs.
3. Short-term and long-term drivers of reform.
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