Losses mounting in bank bailouts - Yahoo! Finance

Losses mounting in bank bailouts - Yahoo! Finance

Remember the Troubled Asset Relief Program, better known as TARP? When we last heard from the Treasury Department on Jan. 23, TARP was being wound down. It was suggested, in the estimation of Timothy Geithner & Co., a success: 93% of the $418 billion dispersed had been collected including $70 billion last year. Read the latest Treasury Department progress report on TARP.
But hold the champagne. It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.
The idea that TARP is somehow a wash because a few banks repaid the bailouts with interest is misleading. The reality is that bailed out firms essentially wrote off their losses on their taxes. As of Dec. 30, TARP was still owed $67.3 billion, including $27 billion in realized losses — that is, that money is gone and is never coming back. See the inspector general’s Jan. 30 report on TARP.
Now, TARP is losing money as it tries to exit the programs.