Post AXIDMbnI1cDHhdlYCu by RDHale@mastodon.online
 (DIR) More posts by RDHale@mastodon.online
 (DIR) Post #AXIDMbnI1cDHhdlYCu by RDHale@mastodon.online
       2023-07-02T09:00:18Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       Is there a single public service that has improved since it was privatised? Because I can't think of one.
       
 (DIR) Post #AXIDMcVFOBNJtyKeiu by feld@bikeshed.party
       2023-07-02T18:56:10.992036Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @RDHale Sallie Mae and Fannie Mae are great probably two great examples.
       
 (DIR) Post #AXIEmWYuCSb0xXxX4i by feld@bikeshed.party
       2023-07-02T19:12:03.981881Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       They've both done terrible things (mortgages, student loans) but I don't think they could have scaled to where they are to meet the needs of the public if the federal gov was still running them.Most of their bad behavior can be directly attributed to easy money policy that the Fed controls, tho.I think it was Freddie Mac in 2008 that was caught lying about the ratings of MBSes though -- artificially inflating them. Need to double check thatI also didn't catch the detail that in 2008 they went under a type of "conservatorship" where they're partially run by the Federal gov again, and are meant to be independent again in the future> As of 2022, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac remain under conservatorshipand I'm pretty certain that nothing bad would have happened if it wasn't for monetary policy that allowed it in the first place.