# Prof. Lawrence White on Fannie and Freddie

1 Faculty News July 5, 2012 ![](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/con_036825.gif?itok=Nq4akC9D)>

Excerpt from [American Banker](http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/GSE-Debates-Show-How-Little-We-Learned-1050666-1.html?ET=americanbanker:e11353:1565182a:&st=email) -- "'It looks like a free lunch until it isn't. And that's the whole essence of Fannie and Freddie,' [White](http://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/lawrence-white) said. 'They were making mortgages a little less costly, and there was no apparent budgetary consequence. This was a politician's dream.'"

[Read more](http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/GSE-Debates-Show-How-Little-We-Learned-1050666-1.html?ET=americanbanker:e11353:1565182a:&st=email)