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Article: Crony capitalism; Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.(Time for an overhaul)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- June 28, 2003
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Thanks, Fannie and Freddie
Time to overhaul the regulation of America's giant mortgage companies
THIS week, America's Congress began hearings on the regulation of the country's two mortgage giants, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Richard Baker, chairman of the relevant committee and a long-time critic of both companies, declared on June 24th that the present watchdog, an obscure body called the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), is not up to the job. Better, he thinks, to hand the task to the part of the Treasury that supervises thrifts (building societies). He is not fussy about details, he says: all that matters is that Fannie and ...