Everyone agrees that, by lowering credit requirements, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac played an important role in the recent financial crisis. Now the Obama administration has promised to reform those “government-sponsored enterprises” (GSEs).
However, as faithful Antiplanner ally Ron Utt warns, Obama’s idea of reform is more focused on changing American lifestyles than on preventing more financial debacles. Administration officials speak darkly of the “underside to homeownership” and hint that there are some people who should rent, not own. According to Utt, the hidden agenda is to promote more compact cities.
