Outside the Beltway

Bailout Tops $5 Trillion Dollars

Steve Verdon
13

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Yay!

For all the fury over Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s $700 billion emergency economic relief fund, it seems downright puny when compared to the running total of the government’s response to the credit crisis.

According to CreditSights, a research firm in New York and London, the U.S. government has put itself on the hook for some $5 trillion, so far, in an attempt to arrest a collapse of the financial system.

Lets be clear, this is an amount that is over 1/3rd of the countries annual GDP that has been earmarked for propping up institutions that have failed. Institutions that have made bad business decisions.

Yippeee, we are all Fordists now. With just the right planning this economy with be the b3st!

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13 responses to “Bailout Tops $5 Trillion Dollars”

  1. od Avatar
    od

    So there is a choice between democrats who want a welfare state for the poor, and republicans who want a welfare state for the rich. Isn’t there anyone who believes in free enterprise … ie you’re rewarded by the market if you make good financial decisions, punished by the market if you make bad decisions?

  2. charles austin Avatar
    charles austin

    od, yes, there are still a few people who still believe in free markets, but few in power and even fewer in Big Media apparently.

    As to your initial comment regarding the rich and poor, if the Republicans base is rich people then the only way they can expand their base is by making more rich people, whereas if the Democrats base is poor people then the only way they can expand their base is by creating more poor people. Once you break the code, it all starts to make sense.

  3. markm Avatar
    markm

    Those days are sadly long gone and we’ve probably only seen the tip of the ice burg. For what it’s worth, welfare for the rich would be a bigger benefit to the everyday schmo.

  4. charles austin Avatar
    charles austin

    1 Rentenmark = 1,000,000,000,000 Papiermark

  5. Floyd Avatar
    Floyd

    This confounded article doesn’t deserve a comment, but here I am……….
    Nevermind, forget it.

  6. ken Avatar
    ken

    Isn’t this subject worthy of a more credible source than Forbes and a more critical examination than what you have given it?

  7. od Avatar
    od

    Those days are sadly long gone and we’ve probably only seen the tip of the ice burg. For what it’s worth, welfare for the rich would be a bigger benefit to the everyday schmo.

    I’ve heard it argued both ways, but neither sounds even remotely convincing – I think so long as there aren’t consequences for mistakes the economy is going to be in trouble either way. Screw up, big time or small time, and the government will bail you out – its hard to see how that can breed anything but disaster.

  8. Brett Avatar
    Brett

    Holy hell. $5 trillion? Is that what has been allocated so far, (god forbid) what has actually been spent, or what is projected to be spent?

    I sincerely hope it doesn’t run that far, if it’s the latter. I don’t particularly look forward to having Japan-levels of government debt.

  9. charles austin Avatar
    charles austin

    Steve Verdon: “This is the biggest bailout in the history of the country.”
    Homer Simpson: “This is the biggest bailout in the history of the country, so far.”

  10. MichaelB Avatar
    MichaelB

    Most of that figure is the nationalization of Fannie and Freddie. Since they were always assumed to be backed by the government, it’s a little misleading to say that they were really bailed out. We were always on the hook for it, it was just off-balance sheet until recently.

    Not to say though that your larger point isn’t entirely correct…

  11. Steve Verdon Avatar
    Steve Verdon

    Holy hell. $5 trillion? Is that what has been allocated so far, (god forbid) what has actually been spent, or what is projected to be spent?

    Suddenly found your inner libertarian or what?

    It is what has been both spent and allocated. Well spent, loaned and allocated. More to come as well. Obama wants $50 billion for the auto industry.

  12. Barry Avatar
    Barry

    “It is what has been both spent and allocated. Well spent, loaned and allocated. More to come as well. Obama wants $50 billion for the auto industry.”

    Posted by Steve Verdon

    In other words, he wants ~7% of the Wall St bailout.

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