Four years later, TARP was still a
mistakeEconomicsFeaturedPolicyPolitics  Earlier today, General
Motors announced it would buy back about 200 million shares of
itself from the Treasury Department – at a loss to the taxpayers
of over $5 billion (CBS). The Treasury still owns 300 million
shares of GM, and unless the share price hits $70, the
“investment” will come to a loss.  Now, as numerous TARP
supporters will insist, it’s not just about the bottom line of a
profit-loss statement. I said something similar when it looked
like TARP would be a money-making venture (overall, it’s looking
more like a money-loser now). The difference is this: the “other
factors” surrounding TARP make it a far less sensible move.
While I’m fairly sure I hold the minority view among the BD
contributors, I have opposed TARP from the start. My reasons
then still, in my view, hold up well. To wit…  TARP was the
wrong medicine, based on the wrong diagnosis. The weaknesses of
mortgage-backed securities was highly overblown in the fall