Whistleblower at CBO Fights Conspiracy of Silence About Still-Funky Housing Markets

Lan Pham

The corruption of the mortgage and housing markets formed the core of the financial disaster that exploded in 2008 and remain a significant debilitating element in the world economy. The United States government, the banking industry, and the mortgage crowd have made halfhearted attempts to clean up robosignings and other illegal industry practices. However, their efforts have been marred by servicers' unwillingness to modify their own sleazy business habits.

To perpetuate this financial fantasyland, statistics must be "managed" so that the public imagines that happy housing days are here again. Rain cannot be permitted to fall on this parade. Consequently, whistle blowers in the stat houses are especially unwelcome; a Mafia-like spirit of omerta is encouraged in stat land.

The tale of Dr. Lan Pham is a case in point. She worked for the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) for a few months and made the fatal career mistake of telling the truth when the institutional fix was in for a "controlled" version of events. According to a recent Wall Street Journal story, Pham alleges was fired for releasing "pessimistic outlooks for the banking and housing sectors in 2010." The article also notes Pham also alleges that "supervisors stifled opinions that contradicted economic fixes endorsed by some on Wall Street, including research from a Morgan Stanley economist who served as a CBO adviser."

This story, is true in detail, would suggest the corruption at the heart of the housing catastrophe is still very much with us. It's especially depressing news as the CBO has a reputation for political impartiality, a quality desperately needed today.

The entire story is available in the financial blog zerohedge.com.

CalPERS and Other Large Players Settle Suit Against Countrywide and Bank of America

Angelo Mozilo

Remember Countrywide Financial? If you suffered through the prospect or reality of a foreclosed home, the words are chilling ones. Since the collapse of the corrupt housing market in 2008, Countrywide (now called Countrywide Mortgage) and its current owner, Bank of America, have tried to get out from key lawsuits against them.

They appear to have succeeded recently against a well-funded, determined adversary. The LA Times reported today that CalPERS, the Golden State's powerful pension arm, along with other large institutional investors, quietly settled their litigation against Countrywide and BofA. The confidential nature of the settlement means the public has no idea how much the defendants ponied up to satisfy CalPERS and the other litigants. BofA's 4th quarter SEC filing might offer a hint; then again, maybe not.

What is clear is that Countrywide's former chief executive and the face of the foreclosure scandal, Angelo Mozilo, walks free to this day. Meanwhile, those who are financially chained or ruined by the foreclosure disaster do not.

Meanwhile, The New York Times published an interesting look at the interplay of a federal bank regulator and IndyMac, one of the financial firms that formed the housing debacle's Ground Zero. The excellent story was co-authored by Gretchen Morgenson. She is of the few mainstream reporters willing to take on complex financial topics and the combined muscle of Major League Finance and the Feds.