1. Cassell, Mark. and Hoffmann, Susan."Federal Home Loan Banks: A New Player in Community Development" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Palmer House Hotel, Chicago, IL, Apr 12, 2007 Online <PDF>. 2009-11-28 <http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p196692_index.html>
Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript Abstract: For decades, scholars of urban policy have viewed the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) System – established in 1932 to preserve and promote home ownership – as culpable in the process of urban neighborhood decline due to its role in redlining and related practices. Since 1989, a place-based affordable housing and community development mission has become pronounced in Federal Home Loan Banks. In this paper, we flesh out what that mission means, based on elite interviews with public managers and board members in the FHLBs. We ask why and how that mission took hold. Additional elite interviews and documents provide the data. We consider explanations for policy change suggested by the competing public choice and behavioral choice perspectives, and argue that the paradigms are complementary in understanding mission change in FHLBs.
