Dr. Mark A. Calabria is Senior Adviser to the Cato Institute and author of Shelter from the Storm: How A COVID Mortgage Meltdown Was Averted. He provides strategic input and direction on the federal economic policy‐making process. He previously served as the Director of Financial Regulation Studies at the Cato Institute, where he co‐founded Cato’s Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives.
Calabria was confirmed by the United States Senate in April 2019 as Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which regulates and supervises Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks. During his service at FHFA, Dr. Calabria led the agency’s response to COVID, as well as laying the groundwork for a removal of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from government conservatorship. Dr. Calabria also revitalized FHFA as a prudential regulator, establishing the agency’s new Research, Accounting Policy, and Resolution Divisions.
Prior to his heading FHFA, Calabria served at the White House as Chief Economist to Vice President Mike Pence. In that role, he led the Vice President’s work on taxes, trade, labor, financial services, manufacturing, and general economic issues, including serving as a key member of the team that enacted the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, and the United States‐Mexico‐Canada trade agreement. Calabria served as the Vice President’s primary representative for the U.S.‐Japan Economic Dialogue. Dr. Calabria also represented Vice President Pence on the White House Ocean Policy Committee.
