Beginning in October 1979, large increases in interest rates raised Fannie Mae’s interest expense, and the Enterprise lost money in four of the six years between 1980 and 1985. Fannie Mae began guaranteeing mortgage-backed securities (MBS) in 1981 and, after interest rates fell, became profitable again in 1986. In 1987 the Enterprise doubled its EPS, starting a 17-year pattern that continued through 2003. Through the early 1990s, Fannie Mae sustained rapid profit growth primarily by expanding the share of conventional single-family mortgage debt outstanding in the U.S. financed with its guaranteed MBS. Fannie Mae’s financial success gave senior management steadily increasing amounts of money to use in efforts to influence the regulatory and legislative processes. Over the years the Enterprise compiled a remarkable track record of achieving its political…