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In 2008, the economic relationship between the United States and China almost collapsed due to a crisis at two American mortgage corporations, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This book explains how that crisis came about, and analyzes the consequences and implications.

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Introduction Asian Savings and American Borrowing The Domestic Politics of American Home Ownership Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the Mortgage Boom The Crisis of 2007-8 Conclusions Index

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HELEN THOMPSON is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge, UK. Her most recent book is Might, Right, Prosperity and Consent: Representative Democracy and the International Economy 1919-2001.

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