Originally Posted By fkurucz <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/05/news/companies/freddie_fannie/index.htm?postversion=2008090521" target="_blank">http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/0...08090521</a> Looks like the Treasury is going to take over insolvent Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which means that US taxpayers will be on the hook to covers the hundreds of billions (if not trillions) in losses these two wonders have left on our collective doorstep. You just have to love this "heads I win, tails you lose" system we have.
Originally Posted By Mr X Not too surprising. Gotta bail out all those Japanese and Chinese investors after all, make em "whole" even though it was explicitly indicated that the Federal Gov does NOT back those institutions, er, til now anyway. Nice. I know a lot of short sellers that are going to be pissed off come Monday boy! Talk about gaming the system!
Originally Posted By mawnck From page 28 of the 2008 Republican Platform: >> We do not support government bailouts of private institutions. Government interference in the markets exacerbates problems in the marketplace and causes the free market to take longer to correct itself.<< <a href="http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/platforms.php" target="_blank">http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu...orms.php</a> Oh, and ... >>Party platforms are a statement of principles that are not binding on the candidates or the next president, and they are typically given little attention after they are adopted.<< <a href="http://www.newser.com/article/d92qbfto1/republican-platform-takes-hard-line-on-abortion.html" target="_blank">http://www.newser.com/article/...ion.html</a>
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Of course, this is reminiscent of the 80's GOP bailout of the S&L's after THAT scandal, including the Keaton and Neil Bush S&L's. "Privatize the profits, socialize the losses" is right.
Originally Posted By fkurucz <<Of course, this is reminiscent of the 80's GOP bailout of the S&L's after THAT scandal, including the Keaton and Neil Bush S&L's. "Privatize the profits, socialize the losses" is right.>> Except that this one one is an order of magnitude bigger. Funny how no one in media seems to remember that McCain was one of the Keating 5. But back to the original topic... What is this going to mean? Should we expect inflation? Should we expect the "free money" spigot to reopen and re-inflate the housing bubble?
