That end, in turn, could be much advanced by a public policy debate focused on the cost, availability, and risks associated with mortgage financing that will likely be available under possible combinations of government policies – including all relevant forms of regulation, housing assistance programs, and the critical issue of the future of the government-sponsored enterprises.
Finance and financial intermediation are not ends in themselves, but means for pursuing savings, investment, and consumption goals. Our debate about what we don’t want intermediaries and financial markets doing must be informed by a better articulated view of what we do want them doing. 6  BIS central bankers’ speeches