Comments on: Bailout Money Goes Rogue

By: DL

DL — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:04:01 +0000

Mike in Nola @ 2:25

“From what a few Congresspeople have said, it was presented to them as an alternative to martial law when the banking system broke down”.

Well then the Congressmen (& women) are suckers.

Of course, we have to “bail out” depositors when banks fail.

And we should “bail out” people who become unemployed (by providing some financial support to them).

But from the long run economic perspective, we don’t need to do a whole lot more.

By: Mike in Nola

Mike in Nola — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:25:01 +0000

It’s analogous to the Germans looting the occupied territories before the Allies arrive.

DL:
From what a few Congresspeople have said, it was presented to them as an alternative to martial law when the banking system broke down. If you think in terms of TARP as opposed to the possibility of W having a way to become president for life, TARP may not have looked so bad.

By: DL

DL — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:57:45 +0000

All the idiots who supported this TARP deserve all of the waste, mismanagement, and higher taxes that they will get.

Stay tuned for “TARP II” in 2009. (God I hope not).

By: Pat G.

Pat G. — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:19:42 +0000

Bruce; “Will easy money stop insolvency?”

Actually, it will probably cause it.

By: Bruce N Tennessee

Bruce N Tennessee — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:11:00 +0000

OK…then maybe if this bailout money is being spent without proper oversight, the solution is just throw more money at it….maybe that will bring you a Nobel Prize.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/14/opinion/14krugman.html

Depression Economics Returns

Seriously, the stuff I read this morning make me think this deleveraging will be around for some time. I still am not sure that being an economist is not like being a weatherman…if you predict something, oh, say, that 12 months ago, no economist but Roubini was entertaining even the idea of a drop in GDP, and now, the weathermap has changed and most think down 3% here, at least 1.5% next quarter, and some thing several more quarters after that….happens all the time in this “science”…

Massive layoffs at Java…and just a few months ago, Sun and other tech companies were widely acclaimed as the place to be during a recession, as “everyone” will still need tech…now, as we see how serious this is becoming, no one is still riding that bus.

Will easy money stop insolvency? ….stay tuned……..

By: ardano

ardano — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:02:31 +0000

Its Friday afternoon. Treasury has just announced a key oversight attorney. The hearing today, Dennis Kucinich of all people, is very interesting on the arcane subject of exactly how TARP funds can be used to scrub bad loans. The testimony may be helpful to TBP readers. Here is the link:

http://domesticpolicy.oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=2276

best to all…

By: Pat G.

Pat G. — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:50:57 +0000

Coming this fall, Government Gone Wild! Look for it in local theaters.

By: DL

DL — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:05:40 +0000

And even if all of the stars in the galaxy were to line up perfectly, and the Treasury could actually recoup all of the $700B, what would happen then?

New spending programs, of course.

By: equiv

equiv — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:51:25 +0000

It doesn’t surprise me at all. We have too much incompetence in our government.

By: batmando

batmando — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:13:12 +0000

@ TrickStyle
Gandalf in Lord of the Rings
vs.
Gandolf in the Urban Dictionary http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=gandolf
“to take a guess, or to say i think”
seems pretty apt, we’re all left guessing and thinking “Where’s the money?”
and as Deep Throat advised Bernstein, “Follow the money”