Saturday, September 24, 2011

Bank bailout continues under guise of European sovereign debt crisis

The multi-trillion dollar rescue of the banks that started in 2008 has not ended. It continues today under the guise of sovereign debt bailouts. And the cutbacks – to pensions, education, welfare, and public sector jobs – that wreak havoc on the lives of millions are all about funnelling public wealth to banks, pure and simple.

h/t Russell Huntley

2 comments:

Vytautas Vakrina said...

"$16 Trillion Bailout"

For example, an overnight PDCF loan of $10 billion that was renewed daily at the same level for 30 business days would result in an aggregate amount borrowed of $300 billion although the institution, in effect, borrowed only $10 billion over 30
days.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/60553686/GAO-Fed-Investigation#outer_page_144

Tom Hickey said...

@ Vytautas

Right, the total amount involved was not technically a "bailout" the way many people understand it, i.e., a give away of "taxpayer" money to special interests. I have seen a figure has high as 27 trillion mentioned.

At the same time, it is true that TPTB did make a huge amount of liquidity available to special interests ("Wall Street") with virtually nothing at all extended to other interests ("Main Street"), who have been hung out to dry. There is incredible resentment over this, even though admittedly it is not properly understood.

It is abundantly clear the presumption on the part of TPTB is that capital is scarce and dominates as if by right of expediency, while labor is abundant and can shift for itself without threatening the system. Moreover, there is also a presumption that an important part of a solution involves lower wages. is.