All the Devils are Here Quotes

“People also felt that a great crime had been committed, yet there was not going to be a great punishment.”
― Bethany McLean, All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis

“At first, the purpose of Fannie’s lobbying machine was to bend the new legislation to its wishes as it wended its way through Congress. The bill had come about because there were people in the first Bush administration who worried that Fannie and Freddie were taking on risk that the taxpayers would likely have to absorb if the housing market ever tanked and they had to make good on their guarantees. At a minimum, these administration critics believed, Fannie and Freddie needed better, tougher regulation. As a general rule, banks had to put aside enough capital to cover around 8 percent of the assets in their portfolios. But Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac put aside only a sliver of capital, allowing them to employ more debt than their competitors could—and produce greater profits. The Treasury Department wanted Fannie and Freddie to be forced to put up more capital.”
― Bethany McLean, All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis