Once again, lenders are making believe that defaulted-loan problems will go away if they wait long enough. Industry jokesters call it "extend-and-pretend."
But the time is right to merge Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and form three separate companies. That is the best way to lead the GSEs out of federal conservatorship and repay the taxpayers.
These banks are not able to resume normal lending operations because they are not willing to dispose of their toxic assets at the current market values.
On the eve of the G-20 economic summit in London, I spoke with Adam Posen, who wrote the book on the mistakes Japanese policy makers made during their lost decade.
A drumbeat is building for some form of federal takeover of troubled home mortgages. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) is leading the charge in the Congress, ...