A midcentury U.S. ocean liner — reportedly the fastest to ever cross the Atlantic Ocean from the Eastern Seaboard to Europe — was scuttled this week to form an artificial reef in the Gulf of Mexico about 25 miles off the coast of Destin, Fla., a beach town halfway between Pensacola and Panama City.
The sinking of the SS United States ended a protracted debate over the future of a historic vessel that had spent years languishing at various ports along the East Coast, a relic of the route it once traveled and the consumer economy it once supported.
As far as midcentury relics go, no such demise awaits Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage investment giants that remain essential to maintaining stability and liquidity in the U.S. housing fin...