CEO Syron in The Hill: Don't Weaken GSEs' Ability to Expand Homeownership

In an op-ed titled "Don't Weaken GSEs' Ability to Expand Homeownership" [PDF 440K] published in The Hill on June 22, 2005, Richard Syron, CEO and Chairman of Freddie Mac, says, "As an economist, longtime central banker and regulator, I know how important the GSEs are to our broader economy. ... Since Congress created Freddie Mac in 1970, housing has gone from being a whipping boy of the economic cycle to a pillar of the U.S. economy."

Syron also defends the retained portfolio and emphasizes that any regulatory changes affecting the GSEs should "build on Congress's genius in creating two institutions, within a free-market system, that can continue to attract private capital to serve a public mission."