## History 

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[![Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, conservatorship, homeownership, Joe Nocera, housing, Government Bailouts,](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser/public/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/MW-EP697_fannie_20160620131229_ZH-e1576506442645.jpg?itok=vjCGH_iz)](https://www.cato.org/restoring-free-enterprise/never-truly-private) 

Publications 

### [Never Truly Private](/restoring-free-enterprise/never-truly-private) 

By [Norbert J. Michel](https://www.cato.org/people/norbert-michel) 

Eighteen years after Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac failed, they remain under federal control and dominate a larger share of the mortgage market, illustrating why Congress should end federal involvement in housing finance and avoid new government-company entanglements.

[![Amtrak](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser/public/2021-02/GettyImages-1277943454.jpg?itok=qeKj-5EA)](https://www.cato.org/restoring-free-enterprise/amtrak) 

Publications 

### [Amtrak](/restoring-free-enterprise/amtrak) 

By [Chris Edwards](https://www.cato.org/people/chris-edwards) 

Congress should privatize Amtrak and repeal government control over routes, labor relations, capital investments, and other aspects of rail operations.

[![bonds, treasury ](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser/public/2023-10/wall%20street%20.jpg?itok=vE1y_xRO)](https://www.cato.org/restoring-free-enterprise/tarp-emergency-intervention-equity-stakes) 

Publications 

### [TARP, Emergency Intervention, and Equity Stakes](/restoring-free-enterprise/tarp-emergency-intervention-equity-stakes) 

By Vern McKinley 

The Troubled Asset Relief Program and related emergency interventions do not provide a sound precedent for normalizing government ownership, capital injections, and federal dealmaking in private firms today

##### Coming Soon 

**A History of Federal Ownership in the United States**

By Phil Magness & Caleb Petitt

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**Industrial Policy: From Picking Winners to Owning Them**

By Scott Sumner & Tad DeHaven

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