Government Experts and Bailouts

Bailouts have invariably been failures when you look back. So why do we still hear of them as solutions?

The 2008 financial disaster was a bailout attempt through a whole assortment of action:

One: The takeover of banks.

Two: The takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Three: The takeover of AIG.

Four: The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to buy bad mortgages from banks.

Five: The Public-Private Investment Program to buy the same troubled assets.

Six: The takeover of GM and Chrysler.

Though we had perfectly good car companies operating in the US to pick up business and relocated jobs, we had to bail out General Motors and Chrysler. That helped their powerful union but did little else for the economy. Ford and others in the industry operating in the U.S. were able to carry on without bailout help.

The government pumped out money. Federal Reserve funds were priced down to practically nothing in the banking system.

All this outlay cost trillions upon trillions that must be repaid with taxes and cheaper-valued dollars to come.

And with little success to show, compared to what would have happened if the politicians and “experts” simply sat on their hands.