GSE DEBT….When I read last night that the Fed planned to buy up $600 billion in Fannie/Freddie debt, I didn’t have the nerve to ask the obvious question: aren’t Fannie and Freddie government enterprises now? Why is the government buying up government debt? But I guess it wasn’t such a stupid question after all, because Paul Krugman is wondering the same thing:
It’s true, as the Fed’s statement says, that
Spreads of rates on GSE debt and on GSE-guaranteed mortgages have widened appreciably of late.
But that’s presumably because the Bush administration, weirdly, has refused to declare that GSE debt is backed by the full faith and credit of the US government. Why not just make that declaration, turning GSE debt into Treasury obligations, rather than stuff the obligations onto the balance sheet of the Federal Reserve?
Is this some kind of strange political game? Is there something else going on here? Inquiring minds want to know.
Nobody ever answers my questions, but this time I got lucky. I’ll bet Krugman eventually gets an answer.
