Fannie/Freddie: The $400bn zombies

Amid the fuss over the stress tests of Bank of America, Citigroup and the rest, it’s easy to forget the biggest zombies of the US financial firmament: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance giants. Fannie lost $23bn in the first quarter. The Treasury will keep it solvent, and has now committed a combined $400bn to Fannie and Freddie. Both should be delisted and put on the government’s books. Amazingly, Fannie’s whopping loss was smaller than those it and Freddie reported in the thir...