Mark K. Cassell - Böcker

Studies the Federal Home Loan Bank System, how it has changed over time and whyDuring one of the worst recessions in United States history, the federal government undertook a series of sweeping changes related to the foreclosure crisis. These changes, in particular to the Federal Home Loan Bank System, have many implications. Mission Expansion in the Federal Home Loan Bank System draws attention to this growing program and argues that the program did not contribute to the foreclosure crisis, also offering a close anaysis of its functions and relationship with congress. Mission Expansion offers an intriguing analysis of a growing, relevant institution for those involved in public policy academically or professionally.

Studies the Federal Home Loan Bank System, how it has changed over time and whyDuring one of the worst recessions in United States history, the federal government undertook a series of sweeping changes related to the foreclosure crisis. These changes, in particular to the Federal Home Loan Bank System, have many implications. Mission Expansion in the Federal Home Loan Bank System draws attention to this growing program and argues that the program did not contribute to the foreclosure crisis, also offering a close anaysis of its functions and relationship with congress. Mission Expansion offers an intriguing analysis of a growing, relevant institution for those involved in public policy academically or professionally.

Germany’s public savings banks – Sparkassen – are a remarkable and puzzling phenomena. No other advanced industrial country relies as heavily on such small, public financial institutions to fuel its economy and how is it that such small institutions can drive one of the biggest and most successful economies in the world?In theory, their diminutive size should hinder their ability to function in an environment where they compete with the capital and muscle of major international banks. Yet at the height of the financial crisis, when other banks drastically reduced lending, new loans made by Sparkassen increased as they continued to provide liquidity and lend to start-up firms. How have they managed to survive the economic turmoil and global pressures of the last few decades? What has enabled them to stay at the heart of the German economy? In a period of neoliberal “too-big-to-fail” thinking, how have these relics of an ordoliberal past managed to flourish?Mark Cassell answers these and many other questions in his exploration of the unique entity that is Germany’s public savings bank system and the lessons it offers to banking systems worldwide.