The "conservatorship" that Hank Paulson, Treasury secretary, has announced for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is nationalisation by another name. Give the man some credit for this. It is not an easy thing for a Republican administration to take two such colossal undertakings on to the public sector's balance sheet two months after promising not to.

Recall that Fannie and Freddie - hybrids that are privately owned but "government sponsored" - own or guarantee more than $5,000bn (€3,500bn, £2,825bn) of mortgage-backed securities. Britain's nationalisation of Northern Rock brought some £100bn of loans on to the public sector's balance sheet, and was the biggest in the nation's history. The nationalisation of Fannie and Freddie, in a country less well disposed to public ownership, is more than 25 times bigger.