FANNIE AND FREDDIE: THE SOVEREIGN DEBT that dare not speak its name. “This is exactly the sort of nudge-nudge, wink-wink, now-we-guarantee-it-now-we-don’t behavior that allowed the companies to get themselves (and by extension us) in so much trouble in the first place. If we want companies that get the attractive low borrowing rates available to the US government, we should make them a government agency and be done with it. If not, we should sell off their assets and dissolve the companies.” I’m for Option Two, but yeah.

Plus, from the comments: “Let’s just rename the government ‘Enron’ and get it over with.” But another commenter suggests that’s unfair to Enron.