Time Person of the Year- Ben Bernanke

OutOfBreath

Well, that will depend on the price that can be fetched when the government goes out again. If they get out for more than they got in, they have made interest, which would fill the public's (ie. your) coffers. It's not like putting money in the bank, but an investment that may or may not pay off in the future. Not unlike a lot of investment options, actually. It may be argued that it's not a good investment, but it shouldn't be evaluated simply as a pure investment, seeing that the government will take a hit either way. So, even if this bailout turns out to not have paid off, it must be judged against the cost of entitlements and lost workforce in the GM case. Is this ideal, no, but in a crisis perhaps necessary to avert greater cost and troubles.

As I see it:
The problem that the US brewed is an aversion from politicians to "meddle in business". Problem is, that if business behaves irresponsibly, the problem is again the state's, since the consequences exceed the individual businesses and have a societal effect. Only thing to avoid bailouts and such in the future is to ensure decent checks and balances in the system from now on (which had eroded away over the years), and not slowly revert to letting the big boys in business take care for themselves again. Do away with the self-regulating market fantasy, and instead ensure a market that works for the good of us all.

Peace
Dan

Commy

unsung wrote:

I'm against bailouts of private companies.

Considering I loaned GM money will I now be getting an interest check?

shit, i want a paycheck. I own it.