Economists for Fannie Mae came out swinging this holiday season at a Federal Reserve study that they said employed questionable analysis, ignored available data, and grossly underestimated the benefits that the GSEs provide to housing. Wayne Passmore, a staff economist at the Fed, said in a paper published last month that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac enjoy a “very large” subsidy due to their ties with the federal government, but pass on only a