This is a WTF number:
“U.S. taxpayers may be on the hook for as much as $23.7 trillion to bolster the economy and bail out financial companies, said Neil Barofsky, special inspector general for the Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program.
The Treasury’s $700 billion bank-investment program represents a fraction of all federal support to resuscitate the U.S. financial system, including $6.8 trillion in aid offered by the Federal Reserve, Barofsky said in a report released today.
“TARP has evolved into a program of unprecedented scope, scale and complexity,” Barofsky said in testimony prepared for a hearing tomorrow before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Costs include $2.3 trillion in programs offered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., $7.4 trillion in TARP and other aid from the Treasury and $7.2 trillion in federal money for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, credit unions, Veterans Affairs and other federal programs, he said.
Wow. Hard to believe . . .
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Sources:
U.S. Rescue May Reach $23.7 Trillion, Barofsky Says
Dawn Kopecki and Catherine Dodge
Bloomberg, July 20 2009
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aY0tX8UysIaM
SigTARP
http://www.sigtarp.gov/reports.shtml
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