Bail Outs

The US government gave the banks (e.g. Bank of America), insurance companies (e.g. AIG), and car companies (GM, Chrysler, and GMAC) billions and billions dollars to get them out of the tight financial spot they were in. The US government gave a bail out to the banks for them to loan money to small businesses and home owners, but instead the banks loaned the bail out money back to the government with about 4% interest profit. This worked for the banks, but not really anybody else. The US government gave a bail out to the insurance companies so that they wouldn’t go out of business and other businesses could continue to operate with insurance, this worked. The US government gave a bail out to the big US car companies for the same reason as the insurance companies, this worked too but in my opinion it was pointless. The Japanese, Korean, and German car companies could have sold cars just as well as GM and Chrysler. So, I think the government is 2-1 in bail outs which is a not bad soccer score.

Lawboy-

The Money is in the Middle

The government loans money to banks at zero percent interest. Then, banks loan small businesses money at five percent. I think that the government should loan to small businesses at 0% and banks at 5% or maybe both at 5%.
But, no way is it currently done fairly. Banks do not help the economy! They pull exorbitant and hidden fees right out of the economy through the pockets of working Americans and small businesses; small businesses that create and give people jobs. I think there is a cycle here:
Government loans banks money at 0% =>
Bank loans money to consumers and small businesses at rates from 5% to 25% =>
Consumers and small businesses buy things: houses, cars, office equipment, computers, etc. =>
Consumers and small businesses put their extra money in the savings accounts and savings bonds getting about 1% to 5% interest.

Lawboy-