Shaky Ground; The Strange Saga of the U.S. Mortgage Giants
New York, N.Y. Columbia Global Reports, 2015. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Trade paperback. 159, [1] pages. Map. Minor cover and page curving. Signed by the author sticker on front cover. Signed on the title page by the author, Bethany McLean. Includes Preface and Introduction. Also includes Part 1--Downfall; Part 2--Origins; and Part 3--Limbo, as well as Further Readings and Endnotes. Columbia Global Reports is a publishing imprint from Columbia University that commissions authors to do original on-site reporting around the glove on a wide range of issues. The resulting novella-length books offer new ways to look and and understand the world that can be read in only a few hours. Most readers are curious and busy. Columbia Global Reports books are for them. Bethany Lee McLean (born December 12, 1970) is an American journalist and contributing editor for Vanity Fair magazine. She is known for her writing on the Enron scandal and the 2008 financial crisis. Previous assignments include editor-at-large, columnist for Fortune and a contributor to Slate. McLean started her career as an investment banking analyst for Goldman Sachs. In September 2015, she published Shaky Ground: The Strange Saga of the U.S. Mortgage Giants which examines the governance and financial situation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac seven years after the 2008 financial crisis. The Washington Post selected it as one of the best nonfiction books of 2015. In 2008, the U.S. treasury put Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into a life-support state known as "conservatorship" to prevent their failure--and worldwide economic chaos. The two companies, which were always controversial, had become a battleground. Today, Fannie and Freddie are profitable again, but still in conservatorship. Their profits are being redirected toward reducing the federal deficit, which leaves them with no buffer should they suffer losses again. China and Japan are big owners of Fannie and Freddie securities, and they want to ensure the safety of their investments--which helps explain why the government is at an impasse about what to do. But the current state of limbo is unsustainable. Based on comprehensive reporting and dozens of interviews, Shaky Ground by bestselling author Bethany McLean, chronicles the story of Fannie and Freddie seven years after the meltdown, and tells us why homeownership finance is now one of the biggest unsolved issues in today's global economy. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were created by Congress to serve the American Dream of homeownership. By the end of the century, they had become extremely profitable and powerful companies, instrumental in putting millions of Americans in their homes. So why does the government now want them dead? Condition: Very good.
Keywords: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Mortgage, Subprime, Housing, Lending, Hedge Fund, Fraud, Accounting, Home Ownership, Creditworthiness
ISBN: 9780990976301
[Book #82285]
Price: $75.00