Page 139 - TrumpsEconEra_Flat

Trump’s Economic Era

Neil Barofsky became the first special inspector
general overseeing the Troubled Asset Relief Program
(TARP). In his book, Bailout: An Inside Account of
How Washington Abandoned Main Street While
Rescuing Wall Street, he writes about his experiences in
Washington D.C. and reveals how the system blocked
him at every turn. He explains how the government
shuffled more than $700 billion out the door with
almost no oversight. Much of the money went for
bonuses to elite bankers, the same bankers who
contributed to the collapse.
Businesses should be profit-seeking institutions,
not servants of political masters who care little about
profits. Politicians tend to view corporations as social
institutions meant to achieve social outcomes that are
frequently at odds with making profits. Once the
government gives money to big corporations and
financial institutions, they are rarely held accountable
for what they do with the money.

After TARP, there grew one set of rules for elite
bankers and favored big businesses and another set of
rules for everyone else. The Department of Justice has
admitted not prosecuting bankers for fear that mass
prosecution would undermine the banking industry.

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