On Oct 18, 2011, at 8:53 PM, Rick wrote:
> I was speaking with a liberal friend of mine the other day and she says she doesn't agree with the protesters who "blame the banks" for the housing component of the financial crisis". She says it's much more accurate to attribute primary responsibility to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. According to her, the FM's pushed the notion that everyone needs to be a homeowner into America's cultural/political discourse, and through various ideological, political and economic means encouraged people to buy homes they couldn't afford and encouraged banks to offer mortgages that on their own they wouldn't have offered. She sees both home buyers and banks as victims of Fannie and Freddie's policies.
>
> My gut reaction is to just say "Are you kidding? I'm sure FM had a role but it's the banks' voracious need for profit that was the primary cause", but my views are not nuanced enough to have this conversation intelligently. Can folks give me further analytical and factual information that can help me respond to her?
This contributed, but check out Bethany McLean's VF piece for some perspective:
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/02/fannie-and-freddie200902