So, who did the Federal Reserve bail out when

[Rex_Goodheart]

they recently "infused" $38B of liquidity into "the system"?

Even I'm not cynical enough to believe that they're giving money away, but I guess they must have bought up some of those shaky "assets" built upon the subprime house of cards. Which banks or "investment firms" were the recipients of that largesse? What would have been wrong with just letting the shit run its course while weeding out those firms who engage in speculative assets? Also, how is that not welfare for the rich?

[eleny]

1. $17B overnight

First 5B followed by 12B. Jeez.

[NMDemDist2]

2. they didn't buy anything, they made the cash available for loans to

the big banks.

the big banks quit loaning $$$ back and forth, so the Fed is making the cash available instead

[flyarm]

3. actually it was 38 billion last friday and 24 billion thursday..62 billion total..

in two days..then more on Monday and more yesterday...

but have no fear..little lord pissy pants is still on vacation..while many Americans are now losing their homes!!

just imagine if our social security money was in the market like pissy pants wanted it to be...

he knew this was going to happen..and he wanted the liquidity of our social security money in the NYSE


remember who loves you..pissy pants ...things are about to get very hostile in this country when people lose their homes!!

fly

[DemocratSinceBirth]

5. A Rising Stock Market Was The Last Leg Of Bush*'s Waning Popularity...

If it really goes south I can see his popularity rating dropping into the teens...

That would be fun but the American people have had enough pain...

[TreasonousBastard]

4. Banks and investment houses, but...

thinking of it as a "bailout" isn't really the way to go.

The fact is that billions in actual money evaporated and there were lots of people and businesses out there who were not part of the schemes and scams who could have gone under without the extra liquidity pumped in.

This is exactly why central banks exist-- to ward off the really bad problems that come with liquidity crunches. One of the eternal analyses of the Depression was that they mistakenly tightened money just at the time it was disappearing naturally. They learned that lesson.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

6. Also, Didn't Hoover Raise Taxes And Balance The Budget

They had fiscal and monetary policy flat ass backwards...

It's amazing how little economists knew back then...

[ChairmanAgnostic]

7. and 12 bill more today

say, mommy, can I use the wheelbarrow? I wanna buy some milk and bread.