“Despite the spectacular failure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, some economists insist that Fannie and Freddie need to be kept in place but somehow, just made safer. This optimistic advocacy—which assumes that Fannie and Freddie are like airplanes that need better landing gear—is in spite of the fact that between 1992 and 2008 Fannie and Freddie had their own regulator, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprises Oversight, that failed to stop the meltdown of Fannie and Freddie that has cost the U.S. taxpayer about $100 billion and counting. Somehow, this time will be different.”
- Roberts, Russell (2009) “How Little We Know,” The Economists’ Voice: Vol. 6: Iss.11, Article 3.