George Will’s column today offers much wisdom — and this important emphasis of the historical record:
But in 1995, Fannie Mae, attempting to ingratiate itself with
conservatives, approached Cato with cash, thereby proving that it
understands libertarianism no better than it understands subprime
mortgages. When [Cato Institute President Ed] Crane responded that Cato never accepts government
funding, he received a starchy letter from Fannie Mae hotly denying
that it was in any way a government entity.
Relatedly, Cato’s Jim Dorn’s essay on the mortgage meltdown is very good.