4 ms·

It isn’t free. Thus the profit.

• humhumhum 8y ago
  Glossing over the fact that there is still the opportunity costs that you neglect, would you be happy with a ~13% return over ten years? Would you consider something like this as a business offering?
  • acjohnson55 8y ago
    Depends on my goal and risk tolerance.
    • humhumhum 8y ago
      Sure, and that's sort of what I alluded to. What was the goal of the bail out? It wasn't profit since the return on the investment in economic terms is horrible (and was so predictably). Compare for instance how the dow jones developed over the same time period. The goal was to keep these massive corporations afloat, to subsidize them. Now you could say, so what? The problem with this is first of all the missed opportunity cost and second of all that it was a clear sign that tax money, if push comes to shove, will be used to bolster corporate profits. And that is what makes this such an anti-democratic act. Tax money is meant to be put back into the society, it is not meant to be re-purposed to be someone else's profit.