TARP was the largest economic mistake of the last 30 years, at least. That $700 billion, if it needed to spent at all, could've done much better in so many other ways.
My favored idea was capitalizing an alternative financial system, that lent to businesses directly.
But giving the money to the crooks who got us into this mess was about the worst possible choice.
He does know that executives don't set their own pay, right? And that executive compensation is reported in proxy statements for public firms? And that firm management can be sued if it violates its fiduciary duty to the shareholders?
Maybe Phil is trying to make a point here, I just don't get it.
Excellent response. Public firms report all of their expenses so it shouldn't be hard to see how their money is spent - just look at their income statements and statement of cash flows.
I think the real reason why banks aren't reporting how the TARP money is spent is because they don't know.
Cash comes in, cash goes out. But it's hard to match specific cash outflows (besides variable costs - and even those can be tough) to specific cash inflows.
My favored idea was capitalizing an alternative financial system, that lent to businesses directly.
But giving the money to the crooks who got us into this mess was about the worst possible choice.