Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

For decades, the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were the fat and happy foundation of the U.S. housing market. By buying and packaging home loans into bonds and absorbing much of their risk, they made it easier for homebuyers to get mortgages, and to get them on easier terms than are available in most countries. Created by the government and then spun off as shareholder-owned corporations, Fannie and Freddie churned out steady profits, as investors treated their debt as virtually risk