Posted by Arkady On 11/07/2010 01:08:00 PM
TARP WORKED!!! Thank the lord. Some of the headlines do a good job of capturing the level of ignorance that persists in the world of punditry. "TARP: A success none dare mention" one writes while "TARP's Success Proves Washington's Talent" writes another Oh brother, TARP is continuing to bamboozle people to this day, perhaps we can clear it up once and for all. By continuing to promote these falsities the writers are also promoting the savior Big Government and instilling within the American populace an idea that any crisis regardless of size can be defeated by the wisdom of our politicians. These propagandists fail on both accounts, first out of common sense and second for economic reasons.
First reason - the common sense. Just because *some* banks have been paying TARP back with interest never made it a good idea. My analogy is the following. Imagine if Congress offered each unemployed American an opportunity to play for 1 million dollars through a game of Russian roulette. The game is simple, you take a Magnum and put one bullet into it, spin the chamber, point the gun to your head and pull the trigger. If brains do not fly across the kitchen table you collect 1 million dollars. Let's imagine that the first five desperate people taking the offer get lucky and are 5 million dollars richer. That is in essence the level of argument that some are making in defense of TARP.
In our imaginary case, just because brain particles were prevented from flying due to sheer luck did not make the blatantly stupid offer a good idea! TARP could have failed miserably and sucked out hundreds of billions of dollars down the toilet, hundreds of billions that America did not have. Despite that cheer leading, LA Times reports, TARP will cost 50 billion and is a net loser. But the costs FAR exceed 50 billion, let me show you why.
...Read More.
TARP WORKED!!! Thank the lord. Some of the headlines do a good job of capturing the level of ignorance that persists in the world of punditry. "TARP: A success none dare mention" one writes while "TARP's Success Proves Washington's Talent" writes another Oh brother, TARP is continuing to bamboozle people to this day, perhaps we can clear it up once and for all. By continuing to promote these falsities the writers are also promoting the savior Big Government and instilling within the American populace an idea that any crisis regardless of size can be defeated by the wisdom of our politicians. These propagandists fail on both accounts, first out of common sense and second for economic reasons.First reason - the common sense. Just because *some* banks have been paying TARP back with interest never made it a good idea. My analogy is the following. Imagine if Congress offered each unemployed American an opportunity to play for 1 million dollars through a game of Russian roulette. The game is simple, you take a Magnum and put one bullet into it, spin the chamber, point the gun to your head and pull the trigger. If brains do not fly across the kitchen table you collect 1 million dollars. Let's imagine that the first five desperate people taking the offer get lucky and are 5 million dollars richer. That is in essence the level of argument that some are making in defense of TARP.
In our imaginary case, just because brain particles were prevented from flying due to sheer luck did not make the blatantly stupid offer a good idea! TARP could have failed miserably and sucked out hundreds of billions of dollars down the toilet, hundreds of billions that America did not have. Despite that cheer leading, LA Times reports, TARP will cost 50 billion and is a net loser. But the costs FAR exceed 50 billion, let me show you why.
...Read More.
