Brad Schaeffer, a conservative energy company executive, makes perhaps the most reasonable defense of TARP that I have seen. He compares the banking crisis to the fall of Enron and the panic that ensued in energy markets at that time and concludes that a private solution such as the one that rescued energy wouldn’t have […]
Posts Tagged ‘TARP’
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Small Banks And TARP: A Train Wreck
Posted by Tom Lindmark on July 14th, 2010
In the scheme of things it’s a bit trifling but this month’s report from the Congressional Oversight Committee charged with reviewing the execution of TARP and other facets of the financial services rescue is an object lesson in what can and may have gone wrong with the program. It deals with the plight of small […]
How The TARP Warrants Are Valued
Posted by Tom Lindmark on July 10th, 2009
There’s been a lot of blather over the last couple of days about the banks trying to lowball the price for the warrants that the government received when they extended TARP funds. Most of it seeks to paint the banks as the bad guys, as hardball negotiators who are trying to pull a fast one […]
Zombie Community Banks
Posted by Tom Lindmark on June 27th, 2009
With all the hoopla this week about the big banks repaying their TARP loans you would tend to think that the program is, if not winding down, then in a collect the interest and wait for repayment mode. If that’s the case, they you’re thinking if wrong. The WSJ reports that the Treasury is busier […]
Deadbeat Banks
Posted by Tom Lindmark on June 22nd, 2009
The Wall Street Journal reports that three banks that received TARP funds have stopped paying the required dividends to the Treasury. The Treasury says a “number” of banks have not been making their payments. From the WSJ: Pacific Capital Bancorp, a Santa Barbara, Calif., lender that got $180.6 million from the Treasury Department in November, […]
Let TARP Die And Let Congress Do Their Duty
Posted by Tom Lindmark on June 9th, 2009
With bank TARP repayments now flowing back to the government and, with the notable exception of Citi, probably a lot more to come, is it time to consider shutting down the program? I would argue that it should be terminated. As originally sold to the Congress and by extension their constituents this program was a […]
Paying Back TARP
Posted by Tom Lindmark on June 9th, 2009
The big news of the day is that the Treasury is going to allow 10 banks to repay their TARP money. For some reason that only a bureaucrat could probably appreciate, they didn’t publish a list of the banks that will be freed. The banks get to announce it individually but if you don’t want […]
