Once the housing and financial markets recover from the recent economic turmoil, shutting down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would have a minimal impact on housing starts nationally and on the economy as a whole, according to a paper by the Heritage Foundation. The recent paper, The Role of the GSEs in the Housing Market, concludes that ending the GSEs and the accompanying mortgage interest rate subsidy of 25-to-50 basis points Fannie and Freddie provide