KeithHennessey.com

Sometimes it helps to zoom way out. Here is a summary I would give to someone who had missed the past six months, including the good, the bad, the non-existent, the uncertain, and the too-soon-to-tell.

Of the original $700 B of TARP funding, CBO estimates that $439 B of the original $700 B has been spent, $280 B of that will be repaid and $159 B will not be repaid and will be a cost to the taxpayer. When you include the costs of FDIC actions and the bailouts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the expected cost to the taxpayer rises to about $553 B.

Many of you are new to this blog since I wrote extensively about autos six weeks ago.  As background, I coordinated the auto loan process for President Bush last fall as the Director of the White House National Economic Council (the position now held by Dr. Lawrence Summers).  I wrote a series of posts on [...]

In a few hours I will offer my thoughts and reactions to the General Motors bankruptcy filing and the President’s noon announcement.  For now, here is what I have been able to figure out from the White House fact sheet and secondary source reporting through CNBC and the Wall Street Journal.  I assume that both [...]

Last Friday I posted that I thought the Administration had less than $40 B of room remaining in the TARP.  The Wall Street Journal reported today Monday that Treasury says “it has about $134.5 billion left in its financial-rescue fund.”  Secretary Geithner addressed this question Sunday on This Week with George Stephanopolous.
GEITHNER: George, we [...]

I think President Obama will soon need to ask Congress for more TARP funding, and that such a request will displace his legislative agenda for a while.  Let’s do the math.
When President Obama took office, $387 B of the $700 B of available TARP funds had already been publicly committed.  Here’s the breakdown.

Public commitment

Banks — [...]