Letting Fannie and Freddie Shareholders Cash in Would Be a Huge Mistake

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac helped trigger the Great Recession. Would an IPO create new dangers?

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been under government control since 2008, when their losses on the collapsing housing market helped trigger the Great Recession. President Donald Trump now wants to sell stock in them with an initial public offering.Trump and senior members of his administration "met with executives from the nation's largest banks in recent weeks" to discuss the potential IPO, said The New York Times. The two corporations are coll…

Letting Fannie and Freddie shareholders cash in would be a huge mistake

Shareholders do not deserve this massive windfall and, more importantly, allowing them to profit would raise the risk of another financial crisis.

Home Prices Will Rise When Trump Privatizes Fannie And Freddie Mortgages

In Washington no bad idea stays dead long. Therefore it should not be surprising that Donald Trump is planning to move forward with plans to privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage giants that have been in government conservatorship for almost two decades.As with many of the moves undertaken by Trump, it is not clear what problem this is meant to solve. For the period they have been in conservatorship, Fannie and Freddie have been sec…

Trump Floats Plan To ‘Release the Twins’ — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — but Mortgage Giants May Be Too Sweet for Government To Give Up

Public-private government entities give all the benefits with little downside, save an enormous debt that remains off-book.