Frankly, Barney, It's Hard to Believe Any Politician

Tonight, the PBS News Hour (here) aired a review of the Book Reckless Endangerment by Joushua Rosner and Gretchen Morgenson (see Robert Reich's review here). In the clip above, Barney Frank (D-NY) responds to some of the criticisms leveled at him by the book.

I've already commented on Fannie and Freddie's role on the Subprime Mortgage Crisis (here) and I guess I agree with Paul Krugman's early assessment (here). Fannie and Freddie are a convenient target that deflects criticism from the private sector, so this debate will continue as a very aggressive, concerted attempt to rewrite history.

Well-known economist Joseph Stiglitz also comes in for criticism in the book (here) and from the right wing (here) for an early study he did of Fannie and Freddie (here). Stiglitz has recently changed his opinion of Fannie and Freddie (here). All of this is fascinating reading!