Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. It's all over the news and I only bring it up here to perhaps provoke some thoughts on government intervention (I know, I must be crazy). On NPR this morning, Adam Davidson could not emphasize enough how big a deal this is. He said that years from now, PhD students will be writing dissertations on what is happening at this moment. Today, Ben Bernanke and Henry Paulson will be testifying before Congress to present their case for government action in helping to prevent a fallout of the two mortgage giants.Those who say yea: Freddie and Fannie have managed to stave off government regulation for years, but it is widely believed that if they were to collapse, it would be disastrous for the economy: housing will continue to slump, foreclosures will rise and the general economy will be thus affected.
Those who say nay: There is a general feeling of wariness in moving toward a reliance on government to bail companies out from any and all risky situations. If government takes the risk out of risky endeavors, then what happens to responsibility?
So, what do you say? Yea or nay?
4 comments:
This is all very interesting...and confusing for me. I've been trying to keep up with what is going on with these companies and am looking forward to what the impending investigations find out about how all of this lending went down. I'm not sure if I think that the government should stay out of it or if I think that the Fed should have somehow stopped this all from happening in the first place.
Another interesting issues about this whole thing is the names of all these lending companies! Freddy Mac, Fannie Mae...are we supposed to be lulled into thinking our grandparents are fronting us some money to get our feet on the ground? Those names alone certainly make a borrower feel like they are in good, safe hands!
Yeah, talk about confusing! I don't know if I'm getting a loan or some Mint Meltaways!
My grandma always had some individually wrapped Twizzlers at her house. Fannie Mae should give those out.
How does one truly say yea or nay? Those of us that do mortgages...would we have them or not without these companies? I am confused as to how these two companies helped me get my mortgage? Are they just companies that help mortgage companies?
I guess I agree with you an Sarah that the names themselves are somewhat confusing. Nevermind what they are actually doing for the regular Tom, Dick, and Harry or should I say Amy, Karen, and Sarah who are just trying to live the "American Dream"...
Post a Comment