Mortgage Meltdown

Mortgage Meltdown: Mapping the Past, Present, and Future of Fannie Mae explores the enduring relevance of Fannie Mae in the American economy, ten years after its fall in the Great Recession and eighty years after its birth in the New Deal. Author Ishwar Mukherjee chronicles the decades of human folly and irony that resulted in ambitious policy with subdued regulation, a combination that brought down the housing market in 2008. Nearly two-thirds of the American population have a...
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Mortgage Meltdown: Mapping the Past, Present, and Future of Fannie Mae explores the enduring relevance of Fannie Mae in the American economy, ten years after its fall in the Great Recession and eighty years after its birth in the New Deal. Author Ishwar Mukherjee chronicles the decades of human folly and irony that resulted in ambitious policy with subdued regulation, a combination that brought down the housing market in 2008. Nearly two-thirds of the American population have a mortgage, but few knew the essential but behind-the-scenes role Fannie and Freddie played in the housing sector until the costliest government bailout in history. Mortgage Meltdown charts the fatal course of Fannie Mae - as influenced by government agencies, lobbyists, congressmen, and shareholder greed - and proposes policy for a sustainable housing future, one free from Fannie and Freddie's overhanging $100 billion liability and supportive of America's commitment to homeownership.