Mishkin says Fed needs to exit mortgage business

The Federal Reserve should get out of the business of owning mortgage backed securities and should have a top priority of selling them, Frederic Mishkin, former Fed governor and a Columbia University professor, said Wednesday.

"Controlling more than $1trn in mortgages is a huge danger to the Federal Reserve,"  Mishkin said. "The big, big deal going forward is the fact that the Federal Reserve is in a very, very difficult position.”

“It’s very engaged in a private market. In fact, it’s the most politicized of all the financial markets in this country," Mishkin added.