At a critical moment for the U.S. economy, the Bush Administration is sending mixed signals about its plans for the largest and most important investment market in the world – the U.S. housing market.  It looks like all the experts in the world don’t really understand the problems we face – or at the very least no one in government is getting them all to work together.  A strong guiding hand is needed at the tiller right now, or we could have another shipwreck.  So isn’t it time for President Bush to buttonhole a key government manager to coordinate all these recovery efforts?  (Maybe that person should be the Secretary of the Treasury? I realize that kind of sarcasm is completely uncalled for.)

The nation's largest mortgage lenders, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, are facing increasing questions about their ability to help consumers ride out the subprime mortgage debacle.  The government wants to meet the needs of troubled consumers, but the companies' shareholders are interested in higher profits.  Writing in the Wall  Street ...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac come by their quasi-governmental reputation honestly.  Though these are private corporations owned by shareholders, they are subject to oversight by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), whose operation the government funds by assessing a fee on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  The two corporations underwrite more mortgages than any other financial institution in the U.S.  Now the government has decided to help them out.