Reason Writers Around Town: Anthony Randazzo on How Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Bulldozed the American Dream
Writing in The Washington Times, Reason Foundation Director of Economic Research Anthony Randazzo explains why it's time to kick Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out of the housing market. As he writes:
Since their founding, Fannie and Freddie have been used by politicians to distort the housing industry. They were technically privatized but had a tacit promise that the government (read taxpayers) would pick up any major financial losses. Fannie and Freddie used this silent guarantee to borrow against the credit of the U.S. government. At one point, they were leveraged as high as 100-to-1 by some estimates. And you thought AIG was bad.