This is a companion piece to McLean's larger study of the 2008 financial crisis, All the Devils are Here, this time explaining the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and their ongoing problems (including the difficulty in the bailout reforming them in any meaningful way). This is pitched in a particularly effective way--at people who know enough to be interested in the mechanics of the financial meltdown, but without background or economics training. The explanations are thoughtful and jargon-free, and the tangled political machinations, going back to the New Deal founding of Fannie Mae, up to the foreign policy ramifications of global investment are laid out clearly.