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And then you see things like the absolute robbery of the American people via the bank bailout Minor fact check: the government has gotten back almost all the m
by metageek 16y ago
And then you see things like the absolute robbery of the American people via the bank bailout
Minor fact check: the government has gotten back almost all the money spent on TARP. The current outstanding bill is fifty billion; even that much may drop to nothing by the time the car companies and AIG finish paying off. (Source: last night's All Things Considered.)
- steveklabnik 16y agoHey, thanks for that. I'm not as totally up on all of that as I should be, because frankly, this is one place where I'm a bit of an idealist. I disagreed with the very concept of a bailout on the grounds that failure is necessary in a capitalist economic system; without the threat of failure, we have no incentive to improve. Frankly, the war is a bigger issue anyway.
- metageek 16y agowithout the threat of failure, we have no incentive to improve. Yeah, but widespread bank failures would have completely wrecked the economy, as in the Great Depression. The people worst hurt would have been the ordinary workers losing their jobs, not the bankers. A better compromise would have been for the bailout to come with real pain for the banking execs—fines, or blacklisting, or at least compensation caps. Frankly, the war is a bigger issue anyway. Yes.