The Trump administration has finally turned its attention to housing policy. Unfortunately, the president’s Memorandum on Housing Finance Reform, issued last week, is a major disappointment. It will keep taxpayers on the hook for more than $7 trillion in mortgage debt. And it is likely to induce another housing-market bust, for which President Trump will take the blame. The memo directs the Treasury to produce a government housing-finance system that roughly replicates what existed before 2008: government backing for the...

Source: Wall Street Journal April 04, 2019 23:15 UTC