Fannie and Freddie, not so Frugal

Professor Macleod discussed many different factors that went into causing the USA to fall into its current recession. This article takes a deeper look into one of these factors, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Before 2008, these mortgage finance giants were not only well respected, but trusted. Since then, they have only gone down. In one year alone, the firm's stock dropped 90%. One major reason why people have given up hope is due to the ridiculous amount of money that the US treasury has pumped into the agencies in recent years. Since 2008, the support efforts has totaled about 148 billion, and that doesn't appear to be stopping the inflow of more support. Before 2013, the support money could reach up to 215 billion! It is estimated that these companies alone will cost taxpayers 53 billion dollars during 2010. In the last 3 years the agencies have burned through 226 billion dollars. With these alarming numbers, it makes one wonder, how long can this go on?