Guaranteed to Fail: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Debacle of Mortgage Finance

摘要

The shapers of the American mortgage finance system hoped not to create Fannie Mae in the first place. The National Housing Act of 1934 authorized federal chartering of private national mortgage associations to buy and sell residential mortgages, with the goal of increasing the liquidity of federally insured mortgages. Despite several attempts over the next few years to attract investors by liberalizing the conditions specified in the legislation, such as lower capital requirements and exemptions from federal, state, and local taxes, not one was established. In 1938, the Roosevelt administration finally created one itself, and "Fannie Mae" was born (Oliver Jones and Leo Grebler, 1961, pp. 115-17; Saul B. Klaman, 1961, pp. 217-19).