“We need to temper or be realistic about our expectations, a dollar-for-dollar return is just highly unrealistic. It’s almost certainly going to be a loss.”
-Neil Barofsky, TARP Watchdog
Anyone surprised at all about this?
“Neil Barofsky, the federal watchdog for the $700 billion financial industry bailout, said the program will “almost certainly” result in a loss to U.S. taxpayers.
Barofsky, the special inspector general charged by Congress with policing the Troubled Asset Relief Program, also said he’s conducting 65 investigations of possible fraud. The former federal prosecutor has pressed the Treasury Department to be more open about the rescue of companies including insurer American International Group Inc. and automakers General Motors Co. and Chrysler LLC.
“Tens of billions of dollars are likely to be lost on the automotive bailout,” Barofsky said. In addition, some banks that received TARP money are failing, so the aid they received will be wiped out.
Barofsky also said he is working on a review of how the government exercises its rights as a shareholder in the auto companies, Citigroup Inc. and other firms in which it holds large stakes.
Your mileage losses may vary . . .
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Source:
Barofsky Says TARP ‘Almost Certainly’ Will Bring Loss
Robert Schmidt
Bloomberg, Nov. 12 2009
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a44MGDYGcZHk
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