As reported by Reuters, the oft-maligned Troubled Asset Recovery Program, commonly known as TARP, actually brought taxpayers a return on their investment:
U.S. taxpayers earned an annualized 8.5 percent return from the government’s bailout of 49 financial firms, underscoring efforts by the industry to speed up repayments and warrant repurchases, according to a report by SNL Financial.
Kinda underscores the argument by some conservatives that government can’t do anything right, doesn’t it?
I’d say it undermines it. Unless making a profit is now bad. I mean, double plus good.
Since Bush started the bailouts does he get the credit?
Remember Bush said he went against his free market instincts with the TARP. I’m going to let Obama take all the credit he can get for this one though, he was in charge for most of it, and he was cleaning up a mess he didn’t create. That said I have pointed out that the program began under Bush when a Teabagger made an uninformed comment about it. So I may be trying to have it both ways, just a little.
The figure is still a bit misleading because it includes only the financials. (The GVMT was able to buy Preffered stock at half price, which the dividends exceeded the loan payments.) A great buy if it were available to the rest of us. Especially, in companies such as Goldman Sachs who didn’t need or want TARP funds.
But Notably absent are GM, AIG, Fannie and Freddie.