Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: The Breakdown

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: We've all heard these names, seen them in papers and online, and for a while there, you couldn't turn on the television without someone mentioning the duo. Now we all know that Fannie and Freddie isn't actually a pair of people, the latest duo from Dancing with the Stars for example; but that they are the names of firms involved in the housing market. But beyond that, many of us don't really know all that much about the details. What exactly do they do? And did they really cause