Let's review: Credit unwind/ market tsunami makes the awful Ibank model obsolete. US Treasury policy is hands off, laissez faire. So, Lehman Brothers goes BK, big deal, let them fail says US Treasury Head and Goldman Sachs alum, Henry Paulson.
Then. . . Uh oh, AIG is about to kick it. AIG is counter-party to trillions in defaults swaps with Goldman Sachs (GS). GS ticks below $100 and voila'. . .
TARP!! Mother of All Bailouts! Terror Alert Red! End of the World, we need to act right fucking now! Trillions to the worst companies on the block. Socialize those losses, baby. We must protect Wall Street bonuses, at all costs, for a better tomorrow. . .
And, as expected the taxpayer dollars went directly to the Ibank bonus pool. Now, in a normal earth world, the Ibank Supreme Leaders would have come out months ago, and said, "We are taking no bonuses this year, as a matter of fact we are taking NO COMP this year, or next, until this mess is sorted out."
But Banker-World is another place far removed from earth dwellers. I know, I was there, it is a special planet of delusion, denial and the still strong "not my bad" ethos.
We often borrow the old Wall Street axiom "this will end in tears" in describing most things financial.
For everyone involved, including the big gun Democrats that supported this mother of all thefts, this TARP. . .will end in wailing.
