When the results of bank stress tests are released today in Europe, there will be a flurry of hand-wringing about the capital hole – and who is going to plug it, or bear losses.
But on the other side of the Atlantic, there is another black hole which badly needs to be discussed – this time in America's huge government-sponsored enterprises, such as the housing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the interlinked Ginnie Mae and the Federal Housing Administration.
So far this year, this GSE issue has attracted scant political attention. Indeed – and astonishingly – the 2,300 page financial reform bill that President Barack Obama signed this week barely mentions these institutions at all.