IN OTHER WORDS, IT WORKED OUT EXACTLY AS W EXPECTED:

TARP Didn't Bust the Bank: The much-maligned bailout program made money on most Wall Street investments and cost less than expected (Rebecca Christie, October 4, 2010. Business Week)

The Treasury Dept.'s investments in banks through the Troubled Asset Relief Program have done surprisingly well. Lower-than-expected losses on auto and insurance company rescues, as well as the financial markets' return to strength, mean the $700 billion rescue plan launched in October 2008 will cost less than one-tenth its initial price tag. "The TARP may well be the best and most useful federal program that has ever been despised by the public," says Douglas J. Elliott, a fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former JPMorgan Chase (JPM) managing director.

As Treasury gets ready to shut down the spending phase of the TARP program on Oct. 3, it now expects to turn a $16 billion profit on the $250 billion it plowed into banks in 2008 and 2009.

Stupid like a CEO.

Posted by Orrin Judd at September 30, 2010 8:09 PM