RENEE MONTAGNE, Host:
NPR's business news starts with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
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MONTAGNE: NPR's Chris Arnold has more.
CHRIS ARNOLD: The numbers in this government report are pretty eye-popping. The Federal Housing Finance Agency says so far, Fannie and Freddie have cost taxpayers $135 billion. Phillip Swagel is an economist at Georgetown University who is studying how to reform Fannie and Freddie.
PHILLIP SWAGEL: Taxpayers lost a lot of money because Fannie and Freddie were guaranteeing mortgages in a way that management and shareholders got the upside and taxpayers got the downside. And going forward, we need to fix that.
ARNOLD: Swagel says that at first glance this report might just seem like more depressing news about the economy. But...
SWAGEL: The headline of the report is scary, but if you look at the details, it's actually not that bad. It says that we're almost done - not much more taxpayer money has to go into the firms.
ARNOLD: The report actually offers two scenarios going forward: if the economy really stumbles again and home prices plunge sharply, then things get more expensive. But Swagel says under the much more likely scenario...
SWAGEL: If house prices stay low and then very gradually recover, then very little more money into Fannie and Freddie - $6 billion more.
ARNOLD: Chris Arnold, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
