Categorical Aperitif

Oops, sorry, I forgot: Government control of industries is only socialism—which, my right-wing friends have always lectured me, is a bad idea which never works and is doomed to fail, so it's a good thing we helped out with coups in Iran, Guatemala, Chile, Venezuela, etc. so those poor confused people wouldn't, you know, try constructing sane, humane alternatives to oligarchy or anything—when rich people don't like it. How silly of me.

Financial markets soared and mortgages rates fell today after Sunday's government takeover of housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but shares in the two companies lost almost all their value.

[...]

Stocks rallied in response to the plan. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 2.58 percent to 11,510.74. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose more than 2 percent to 1,267.79. Leading the rally were home builders, banks and other companies whose fortunes are closely linked to the general health of the housing market.

Well, Dean Baker smiles upon it, and the Krugmeister says it's not "nationalization" so much as "deprivatization," but still, I enjoy the irony.