(FINANCE) real estate mortgage backed securities; usually used to refer to the derivatives created by
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that were used to create collateralized debt obligations
CDO's.
Most economists seem to agree that the 2008 crisis was caused by the collapse of the real estate market, which was mainly caused by the toxic relationship between
RMBS's and the CDO's created mostly with them.
For almost eighty years the RMBS business helped people buy homes, with few serious problems. Then Congress
abolished Glass-Steagall, the banks merged and created
CDO's, and total disaster followed.
And now our neighborhoods look awful as well.
