Are Taxpayers Making Money Off Bailed Out Banks?
Almost every day, I read in the paper that the goverment is making money off of the bank bailout. Papers love good news, even if it is has little to do with reality. Today, the Financial Times reported that the U.S. made $10 billion off bank repayments on the bailout funds. $10 billion, hooray! We are in the black! Unfortunately, our recent comprehensive bailout accounting puts taxpayers $2 trillion in the red. That is right, $2 trillion. While most of this money was in the form of loans, and American taxpayers might recoup those funds one day, it is foolish for the press to declare “Mission Accomplished” based on a thin study by the SNL Group. (Saturday Night Live strikes again?) Especially when taxpayers also lost $14 trillion in wages, retirement, college savings and housing wealth. In reality, figuring out if taxpayers are winning and losing in the bailout stakes is complicated. Take the case of Citigroup. The Washington Post recently applauded the $8 billion taxpayers allegedly ma
