Alan Blinder, an economist and former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, discusses why he thinks the government doesn't get enough credit for saving the U.S. economy from a much worse fate.
The Troubled Assets Relief Program — TARP — was the formal name for what we often just call "the bailout." In 2008 Congress allocated $700 billion to stabilize the U.S. financial industry. Congress and President Bush assigned one man to build a team, and police all that spending.
In a report to congress, TARP's inspector general says while the program will likely end up making a profit for taxpayers, there's ongoing worry that many small banks are having trouble paying back the feds.
A report out today from the special inspector general who oversees the 2008 bank bailout known as TARP has some bad news about small banks. He says more than 300 small banks that borrowed money from the federal government during the financial crisis have yet to pay it back.
