There is no better way to quickly buoy hard-pressed homeowners than helping them take advantage of the currently record low fixed mortgage rates and significantly reduce their monthly mortgage payments.

My policy is I will help any policymaker who asks, whether they be a Republican or a Democrat.

The principal linkages between Japan and the U.S. global economies are trade, financial markets, and commodity markets.

In a forbearance, the homeowner pays interest and principal on a smaller mortgage, at least for a time, but still owes the full amount. The lower monthly payment helps with affordability, giving stressed homeowners a break.

At the center of every recession is a serious imbalance in the economy and mirrored in the financial system. Think subprime mortgage and the Great Recession, or the technology bubble and the early 2000s recession. There are no such imbalances today.

I'm a registered Democrat.

Predicting recessions is indeed a dark art, but I think we are several years away from the next one.