How It All Began
December, 2013
Robert Perry's letter in June ("Keynes Was Right") tells the story of the downturn as I understand it. However, I disagree with his assessment that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac deserve much of the blame. Certainly they contributed to the financial crisis, but they were late to the game. You need to return to November 1999 to reach ground zero. That's when Senator Phil Gramm (Republican of Texas) slipped an amendment into a bill that eliminated the last vestiges of theGlass-Steagall Act....
