A bracing dose of common sense from Aussie Janet Albrechtsen in the Journal:
The final proof that American social policies have made mortgage lending an unviable industry rests with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. If sensible business people don’t get into the mortgage industry because it is fundamentally a bad business, the American way has been to send in a couple of quasi-government agencies to fill the gap.
Fannie and Freddie dominated the mortgage industry because ultimately government was prepared to fund activities that prudent lenders would not. When their implicit government guarantee became explicit, America’s system of government-directed lending on socially desirable, but commercially imprudent, lending stood exposed.