There is a great OPED in the WSJ today that helps to "call in to question the longstanding US beliefs about the relationship of government subsidized housing finance to home ownership." In short Canada does not have GSEs like Fannie and Freddie, yet has the same levels of home ownership as the US, and 1/10th of the foreclosure problems as the US. News about these organizations has moved further back in our newspapers but the ultimate cost to American Taxpayers will be hundreds and hundreds of billions and deserves our continued attention. In thinking about financial reform due attention must be paid to how these behemoths are reduced in size and influence in a responsible manner. Canada continues to provide a great model for a much more stable and responsible financial system. ( and yes I am Canadian!)
PP History
I have written dozens of entries about these two institutions over the past 2 years. In Jan 2008 on the Huffington Post I said there were going to be HUGE losses to be dealt with and sadly.. I was very right. Here are more comments when they were taken over in September 2008.
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