On August 7, President Obama suggested that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should go out of business, as he called for “a return of private capital, [to] put the risk and rewards associated with mortgage lending in the hands of private actors, not the taxpayers.”
Morgan Stanley’s view of a “rentership society” is an interesting read, but underlying it is the specious argument that Fannie and Freddie caused the housing crisis. This myth has been …

