Sounding like a 1920's radio sit-com duo but Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are the world's biggest mortgage lenders and now they've been rescued by the US Federal Reserve. Fannie Mae is a rather creative pronunciation of the company's acronym, FNMA, that has now been adopted officially for ease of identification.
They're a private company (ies) so, in my view - a private company that fails should not hold out it's hand for government support. No matter how big it is.
If you want a safety net, then that's fine but the safety net needs a ceiling to hold it up so if the Government can come to the rescue when times are tough - then they should be able to tax proportionally when times are good; whether through one-off windfall taxes or some other vehicle. You can't have one without the other.
The main argument against the companies is that they are vehicles of private profit but public loss. This, to me is, is unfair. If they're so important to the US (and the world's) economy - why were they not they under Federal control in the first place?
Speed linked articles:
New York Times
The Guardian
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