Bailout Price Tag: $3.5T So Far, But 'Real' Cost May Be Much Higher

[pokerfan]

Tallying up the "true" cost of the bailout is difficult, and won't be known for months if not years. But considering $3.5 trillion is about 25% of the U.S. economy ($13.8 trillion in 2007) and the U.S. deficit may hit $1 trillion in fiscal 2009, hyperinflation and/or sharply higher interest rates seem likely outcomes down the road.

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/126117/Cost-of-the-Bailout-3.5T-So-Far-But-%27Real%27-Cost-May-Be-Much-Higher

[DJ13]

1. It would have been cheaper, and the crisis would be over already

.....if the government just gave every person in the US a million dollars.

Everyone would have paid off all their outstanding debt, closing out all the underlying financial instruments that are the cause of the crisis.

[pokerfan]

3. ?

$1M * 300M = $300T

:shrug:

[DJ13]

5. Ooops, okay. $10,000

Im math challenged this morning!
:blush:

[pokerfan]

6. That's still 10x what they've spent so far

But I'm afraid that we've only just begun to throw money around so we might get there yet, one way or another.

[anigbrowl]

7. Right. That wouldn't be inflationary at all.

[pokerfan]

8. I hearing that we looking at hyperinflation no matter what

We just have to trust Paulson and the Banks to do the right thing instead of pocketing the billions being thrown at them. :eyes:

If anyone tells me there's nothing to worry about because these so-called loans are backed by collateral, I'm going to vomit. Collateral is almost as funny a joke as capital gains these days. What was AIG's market cap before we threw $150B at them, $30B?

[anigbrowl]

12. I don't think we'll see hyperinflation

Stagflation is what I worry about, but even then I don't expect a return to the 1970s. Collateral and capital gains sound stupid now, but then so do growth and profit and what-all else. I'm optimistic that we'll see modest growth in 2010 though, given the global effort to address the problem.

If I had money to invest I'd be doing a Warren Buffett right now and picking up some equities while they're cheap. Just as people exaggerated the strength of the bull market and the idea of limitless growth, people tend to exagerrate bear markets and get caught up in limitless gloom too. We have moved on quite a lot since the 1930s though.

[aquart]

2. Any of it coming from CEO pockets?

[pokerfan]

4. lolol

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[HowHasItComeToThis]

9. WELL THEY HAVE DROWNED US IN A BATHTUB

[bvar22]

10. That's OK.

We decided we are not going to pay for it.
We QUIT!
:hippie:

[pokerfan]

11. I didn't even realize that was an option!

[bvar22]

13. Depends on how far you are willing to go.

Can you reduce your taxable income to under $20K/year and still live well?