Check This Out: The role of Fannie Mae’s leaders in the housing collapse

  • Wednesday, June 22, 2011 12:01am
  • Business

Podcast: NPR’s Fresh Air, from WHYY in Philadelphia; recommended by Kurt Batdorf, Snohomish County Business Journal editor

Episode: May 24, “How ‘Reckless’ Greed Contributed to the Financial Crisis”

The pitch: This podcast features an interview with New York Times financial reporter Gretchen Morgenson, author of “Reckess Endangerment: How Outsized Ambition, Greed and Corruption Led to Economic Armageddon.” Her new book with co-author Joshua Rosner chronicles the dealings of failed mortgage giant Fannie Mae. She describes its leaders’ roles in the housing bubble and mortgage meltdown, how and why taxpayers got stuck with the bill for the $150 billion bailout when the economy collapsed, and how those leaders and its chief executive at the time have yet to face any consequences for their actions.

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