Nice try from some guest writers, but typical of "ivory tower" thinking. Misses the big picture; the two GSE's have subsidised the banking industry by removing market risks and replacing them with an implicit government guarantee. It also misses the point of the "emperors new clothes" aspectof the rescue, these two GSE's can issue an unlimited amount of their own debt and get the Fed to replace it with Government paper. Let's leave aside the fact that the article is factually incorrect in that GSE's bought sub-prime portfolios, bundled to be AAA, but how about some intelligent thinking about how much of sub-prime lending was forced on the private sector because these dinosaurs of "free market meddling" crowded out main street banks who would certainly apply more diligence to loan quality if these banks balance sheets were at risk. The two GSE's are the cause of the housing market collaps, not a solution to it and one that has never worked. Anyway, nice try by the FT's guest writers, but I can get more intelligent opinion from a yahoo finance blog.