This just in from Bloomberg BusinessWeek: “TARP’s bank bailouts are turning a profit and TARP overall may cost about $50 billion, hardly the boondoggle many pols charge.”
BizWeek says that the $700 billion plus rescue package may end up costing less than one-tenth its original price tag.
Bloomberg data says that of $250 billion to bank bailouts, the same about is expected to be repaid with profits to the government of about $16 billion.
Eighty-two billion dollars was paid to auto makers. About $55 billion is expected to be repaid with losses to the feds of $27 billion.
American International Group, the insurance and financial too big to fail, got $70 billion. It is expected to repay up to $70 billion with losses of zero to $10 billion.
Thirty billion dollars worth of housing bailouts will not be repaid as that was not the original intent.
But you get the idea. Like many bloggers, I was scornful of TARP. But I did have to research other bailouts in other countries’ financial crisis and sometimes bailouts are the only way to go.
If all of this is true, The Right Rev. James A. Bacon had better start writing another book. This one should not have the preachy, negative “lack of personal responsibility” theme of the first.
Peter Galuszka
Full disclosure: I wrote and was an editor at BusinessWeek for 15 years before it was bought by Bloomberg