Inventory
info icon
Single family homes on the market. Updated weekly.Powered by Altos Research
735,718-296
30-yr Fixed Rate30-yr Fixed
info icon
30-Yr. Fixed Conforming. Updated hourly during market hours.
6.94%0.01
Economics

The government can’t fix Fannie and Freddie

The recent clash between the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the House Financial Services Committee highlighted precisely why the government can’t fix the government-sponsored enterprises. The purpose of the hearing was meant to question Fannie CEO Michael Williams and Freddie CEO Charles ‘Ed’ Haldeman on the justification of their compensation. However, committee members pummeled FHFA Acting Director Ed DeMarco. This is despite his income being roughly 20 to 40 times less than either CEO. The committee even put together a chart meant to show how inflated the salaries are considered to be: It’s a fair point that the GSEs should be led by public servants, not private executives. DeMarco is a fine example of a public servant willing to take a beating and still return to his thankless job the next day. The mere fact committee members are calling the CEOs of Fannie and Freddie to a hearing and not even aggressively questioning either shows a lack of investigative thought and a total lack of political willpower to reform the nation’s housing. If you do, in fact, think the two CEOs are somehow ripping off America, and completely disregard the relative improvements at the GSEs, then take them to task. But despite the popularity of hating on the social class inequities Fannie and Freddie played a part in, the politicos refused to “eat the rich.” I’ve talked to both CEOs. They can take it. They are smart men with answers. But they aren’t going to speak ahead of their boss. They did not become CEOs through a failure to listen and, as the hearing showed, perfectly capable of watching politicians squander a great opportunity to learn more about how to fix housing. Instead, it looked like the politicians would rather repeatedly attack the long-suffering public servant. That is, quite simply, playing it safe. Direct questioning toward a distinct federal official is easier than trying to make the CEOs of trillion-dollar companies sweat. Nothing important came out of this meeting. And as for bonuses paid to the executives of the GSEs, HousingWire has been covering it for months. The recent attention changes nothing. And it shows why the government can’t fix Fannie or Freddie. Write to Jacob Gaffney. Follow him on Twitter @jacobgaffney.

Most Popular Articles

Latest Articles

Lower mortgage rates attracting more homebuyers 

An often misguided premise I see on social media is that lower mortgage rates are doing nothing for housing demand. That’s ok — very few people are looking at the data without an agenda. However, the point of this tracker is to show you evidence that lower rates have already changed housing data. So, let’s […]

3d rendering of a row of luxury townhouses along a street

Log In

Forgot Password?

Don't have an account? Please