By the end of the century Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac together were backstopping at least 50 percent of the total national mortgage market. Creating conforming loans—loans that qualified for GSE backstop—was the basis of the American home loan business. It is a deep irony that the era in which America is commonly thought of as leading the world in a market revolution saw its housing market become dependent on a government-sponsored mortgage machine descended from the New Deal.
