If you don’t think capitalism is in trouble in America, you’re not paying attention. On Monday, The Wall Street Journal added this article to it’s long running series “USA Inc. The State of Capitalism.”
“Washington pumped $245 billion into nearly 700 banks and insurance companies and guaranteed almost $350 billion of bank debt. It made short-term loans of more than $300 billion to blue-chip companies. It propped up life insurers and money-market funds. It bailed out two of the three U.S. auto makers. It lent billions trying to jump-start commercial-real-estate, small-business and credit-card lending. In two February stimulus bills enacted a year apart, the government committed $955 billion to rouse the economy. Today the U.S. government, directly or indirectly, underwrites nine of every 10 new residential mortgages, nearly twice the percentage before the crisis. Just last week, the Treasury said it would cover an unlimited amount of losses at mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac through 2012.” Read the full article below.
After the Bailouts, Washington’s the Boss | Wall Street Journal | December 28, 2009
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