Introduction -- The difference between prime and nontraditional mortgages (NTMS) -- Red herrings : other explanations for the crisis -- The housing finance market before the affordable housing goals -- Government housing policies kick in -- The affordable housing goals and the decline in...

This timely study focuses on how the government-constructed narratives surrounding the collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the 2008 financial crisis shaped the policymaking that led to the Dodd-Frank Act.