Econintersect: Every day our editors collect the most interesting things they find from around the internet and present a summary “reading list” which will include very brief summaries (and sometimes longer ones) of why each item has gotten our attention. Suggestions from readers for “reading list” items are gratefully reviewed, although sometimes space limits the number included.
- Japan rolls out “long-held dream” with first commercial jet in 50 years (Tim Kelly, Reuters) Many doubt that Japan can break into this competitive market. Their expressed goal is to build more than 2,000 airliners.
- Mortgage Giants Set to Loosen Lending (Joe Light, The Wall Street Journal) The (largely) government owned mortgage security and mortgage guarantee corporations Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are in the process of loosening the requirements on banks and other mortgage originators that will qualify them for eliminating responsibility for mortgages that go bad. An announcement is anticipated as early as Monday (20 October). The down payment requirement is to be lowered to 3% for some borrowers, according to this article. However, according to a CNN Money article in early January, mortgage underwriting rules going into effect then had “no minimum down payment or credit score requirement“. The significance of the Joe Light statement is uncertain.
The other key change mentioned by Light is that the length of time is being relaxed that the mortgagor must make timely payments to exempt the originator for liability for a later default. In 2013 the qualifying condition was three years of timely payments. In May 2014 that was changed to at least 34 timely payments in the first three years. This is to be relaxed further this month. In qualifying for exemption from put-back to the originator of defaulting mortgages, fraud has been excluded from the exemptions. Fraud has been poorly defined according to Light and it will be addressed more explicitly this week.
- Articles about conflicts and disease around the world
Ebola
Every US Ebola patient received experimental product, official says (CNBC) Hat tip to Marvin Clark.
President Obama: What You Need to Know About Ebola (The White House)
What if Lots of People Have Ebola-Proof Blood? (NBC News)
Ebola Scare Turns Dallas Hospital Into a ‘Ghost Town’ (abc News)
Nigeria
How Did Nigeria Quash Its Ebola Outbreak So Quickly? (Scientific American)
Syria
Airstrikes target Islamic State oil facilities in Syria (USA Today)
Kurds thwart new jihadist bid to cut off Syria town (Yahoo! News)
Iraq
Iraq crisis: MPs complete anti-IS government (BBC News)
Ukraine
Ground zero in the battle for Ukraine: Donetsk airport (USA Today)
Ukraine says it agrees on interim gas price with Russia (Reuters)
Russia
Russia Rating Cut by Moody’s on Sluggish Economic Growth (Bloomberg Businessweek)
Soldiers’ Rights Activist Jailed in Russia (abc News)
Hong Kong
‘Critical moment’ for Hong Kong protests after new clashes (Yahoo! News)
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