In light of AIG's sale of it's Asian subsidiary to Prudential UK for $35.5 B and its expected deal to sell another US subsidiary to Met Life for $15B, the government has sharply reduced its estimate of TARP losses.
However, the thing that caught my eye in reading an article on this subject today was the following:
"The unlikely stars of the bailouts are the US Banks, which have paid back their capital infusions faster than many analysts anticipated when TARP was launched in 2008." One analyst noted that "everyone loves to bash the banks, but that is not where the problem is." He called the return on the government's investments in the Banks a "home run".
Even when things like this make the press, and even when people read or hear the facts; nevertheless, taking their cue from politicians and the press, they still talk about all the money we just gave the Banks. It's as if they just got to keep it for free (like other government programs).
If it sounds like I'm a cheerleader for the Banks, you haven't read all my posts. There is no doubt we are suffering through the greatest economic recession I have ever seen. Some of the conduct of some financial entities share significantly in the blame , but this crisis was brought on by more than just the Banks.
As I wrote in the beginning, my intent in doing this blog is to reveal facts that are overlooked because they don't fit conventional popular views. Unfortunately, so many of those unpopular facts these days relate to Banks.
Eric
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