real estate

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The Takeover of Fannie and Freddie

There are many obvious reasons for the takeover of Fannie and Freddie yesterday by the Federal government.  They include shoring up under-capitalized lenders crucial to the economy and the housing market, restoring confidence in the US financial system, and avoiding a 1990s Japanese style economic "flat line" economy.  There are less obvious reasons.  There has been a long war between completely private mortgage lenders and brokers, such as FM Watch, whose members include firms like GE Capital and GMAC, which have been trying to put the two FMs out of business.  This animosity toward the two F