In this report, we continue our post-election forecasts, turning to the long-puzzling question of what to do with the conservatorships established for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the midst of the 2008 crisis. These GSEs are of course not the only housing government-sponsored enterprises, but we focus on them because we expect the Federal Home Loan Banks to remain an after-thought in the broader GSE debate. Protected by community-bank members despite their value as funding sources to large bank and non-banking companies, the FHLBs have a formidable political barrier against change they oppose and strong potential for new opportunities based on what happens to Fannie and Freddie.
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