Twice the size of the entire UK economy.. the magnitude of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's nationalisation dwarfs our mere £200billion bailout of Northern Rock and demonstrates how little attention legislators have paid to American mortgage providers.. an area of the economy left basically on it's own since the privatisation of Fannie Mae, itself a company formed and run by the government after the return of the GI's from the Second World War..
Today..The two firms buy mortgages from approved lenders and then sell them on to investors rather directly to borrowers..
They guarantee, or own about half of the $12trillionUS American mortgage market
and are relied on by almost all US mortgage lenders.
They are looked to provide ready funds to meet consumer demand for mortgages while linking mortgage lenders with investors.. thus keeping the supply of money widely available and at a lower cost...
There is nothing.. no conglomerate structures which remotely compare in the UK..
A particularly American problem..
And, in a gesture worthy of any John Wayne character.. there's been a typical 'garb the bull by the horns' reaction..
Oddly enough, John Wayne is just what that country needs right now..

Steven Harper.
You'll recall when it was recommended that those who weren't familiar with the name Boris Johnson Google the man's resume..
Now, for those unfamiliar with Steven Harper should do the same.
He's the Prime Minister of Canada.. one who has managed to keep a minority government in power for literally decades..
And he's about to call for a General Election.. likely Canadians will go to the polls around the 17th next month..
This may well be the time for Harper to take a majority.. the Bloc Quebecois and the Conservatives are running neck and neck in Quebec.. and Harper has built a solid base in the west.. and Ontario..
This man will lead a country which, in itself, is a 'sleeping giant', through the next decade or so with America about to pull itself into isolationism..the EU wrestling with constant and chronic unemployment and inflation.. a Russia preparing for economic control in Europe, which will effectively, through economic interdependence, complete Vlad's re-establishment of the USSR..
And Canada.. throughout it's past.. has managed to remain essentially uninvolved in any affairs of international consequence.. confining to NAFTA it's economic agreements.. and NATO and the UN for it's International Peacekeeping Commitments..
Confining itself to a profitable financial 'favoured trading partner' with the US for the most part..
This will change.
Steven Harper.