This is near facetious. These aren't "theories" that sprang up overnight like the bailout did. Austrian economists have specifically identified Freddie/Fannie etc. as the agents of credit expansion to the housing sector, BEFORE there were problems.

A total non-sequitir, he dismisses them without even bothering to offer an alternative theory.

Also, it's misleading to reference CATO. No libertarian outside of CATO respects them. Randians are fair game (it IS fun to poke at them), although their mention in this article was more to sensationalize than to add anything relevant to the topic at hand.

Oh well. It seems that those animal spirits area acting up again. It sure is convenient that all government action is supremely rational.