Some observers contend that the housing government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, were responsible for the financial crisis due to their financial support for the subprime mortgage market. This paper reviews the available evidence and concludes that while Fannie and...

This paper examines the causality link between Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (F&F) and the housing crisis with particular emphasis on the systemic risk created by F&F. First the paper is premised on the role of F&F in the housing market and the role of securitization as a mechanism for transferring...

"We identify incentives generated by the Bretton Woods II system that may have contributed to the sub-prime liquidity crisis now working its way through the international monetary system. We then evaluate the persistent conjecture that the liquidity crisis is or will become a balance of payments...