Pimco’s Bill Gross
Bill Gross, who runs the world’s largest bond fund, Pacific Investment Management, has thrown his support behind a proposal to fully nationalize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to the Post. The two mortgage giants, which were put under federal control as the housing crisis unfolded, are at the center of this week’s conference on the future of residential lending in Washington, D.C. But while Gross said that the two institutions are too much of a burden for the government to handle long-term, not everyone agrees. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has maintained that leaving Fannie and Freddie to their own devices contributed to the mortgage crisis in the first place, and that history demands close government oversight of both institutions. One proposal had suggested that a co-op type of corporate structure would work best for the institutions, which a variety of lenders assuming ownership. [Post]