Fannie,Freddie,and the “libertarian” who loves them

James Glassman, who fancies himself a libertarian and who, I believe, once claimed to have Austrian “sympathies,” is calling on Congress to leave Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac alone. Glassman may have a point that imposing new regulations on Fannie and Freddie would only further distort the housing market, but he also implicitly urges Congress to continue to subsidize Fannie and Freddie, and thus artificially expand the demand for housing.

True libertarians and Austrians recognize Fannie and Freddie as creatures of the welfare state whose market-distorting activities will compound the damage from the inevitable bursting of the housing bubble.

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9:27 pm on March 21, 2005