Audit: Fed gave $16 trillion in emergency loans

[Playinghardball]

Source: Raw Story
By Stephen C. Webster

The U.S. Federal Reserve gave out $16.1 trillion in emergency loans to U.S. and foreign financial institutions between Dec. 1, 2007 and July 21, 2010, according to figures produced by the government's first-ever audit of the central bank.

Last year, the gross domestic product of the entire U.S. economy was $14.5 trillion.

Of the $16.1 trillion loaned out, $3.08 trillion went to financial institutions in the U.K., Germany, Switzerland, France and Belgium, the Government Accountability Office's (GAO) analysis shows.

Additionally, asset swap arrangements were opened with banks in the U.K., Canada, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, Norway, Mexico, Singapore and Switzerland. Twelve of those arrangements are still ongoing, having been extended through August 2012.

More at: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/07/21/audit-fed-gave-16-trillion-in-emergency-loans/

[CleanGreenFuture]

1. If you are reading this and didn't know about it, you weren't paying attention.

Those who were are not in the least surprised to hear that we bailed out nearly every too-big-to-fail financial institution in the world.

All while America slept and dreamed up the national nightmare that is now manifest in our national dialog.

[BeFree]

2. It's why the teabaggers rose up

They were 'that close' to destroying decent society.
If the loans had not been made, all would be chaos and anarchy today. Teabagger heaven!

This deficit stuff today is their plan B.
And Obama is playing his part.

[Octafish]

3. Important information missing from Corporate McPravda's radar...

...and why people need DU.

FED Made $9 Trillion in Emergency Overnight Loans -- Thank Bernie, otherwise we'd never know.

EXCERPT...

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who had authored the provision of the financial reform law that required Wednesday's disclosure, called the data that was released incredible and jaw-dropping.

"The $700 billion Wall Street bailout turned out to be pocket change compared to trillions and trillions of dollars in near zero interest loans and other financial arrangements that the Federal Reserve doled out to every major financial institution," Sanders said.

Also glad to see someone's updated the numbers!

[chill_wind]

6. "But it's all been paid back!", right?

I keep hearing that, even on DU.

[Octafish]

9. LOL!

Disinformation Science, practiced by the Rove School of Bedwetting.

The same noise drowns out any effort to pass some truth: Especially how the rich should be paying their fair share of the taxes.

Hey, Koch Brothers! For billionaires, the rate should be 90-percent.

[originalpckelly]

4. And how many families had to endure foreclosure during that time?

[divvy]

5. It began in 2000 when bush stole the white house

Remember the S&L scandle when bush sr was president? Shrub's brother Neil was at the center of the problem. Dad bailed him out at the taxpayers expense.

Along came george jr. Not to be outdone by his father ........ He almost lived up to the Union Banking Crook -- his grand father -- Prescott Bush

These "loans" began in 2007 while bush was still president.

[jtuck004]

7. At interest rates of less than 1/2 percent, then loaned out for 4.5, 8, 12, or 26%

And they KEEP those profits. Some even just bought treasuries with the loan, and were paid interest back at a higher rate than they paid for these loans - we might as well just be dumping money from our personal bank accounts into their (virtual) vaults.

"Could I please have a loan, from the taxpayer, with which I can buy a bond that is backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. (i.e....wait for it...the taxpayer). It will pump profits (you could have used these to rebuild your community) to me while I just bank your principal and eventually return it. When we feel like it. If we can do this with trillions of dollars, we might be talking about real money. For me. And I want credit for having "paid back the loan" as well".

Gotta love America.

In addition to the above, add on another $3 or so trillion used to purchase contracts and other assets, much of which simply turned into vapor, described in "It Takes A Pillage", and detailed at http://www.nomiprins.com/reports/ , among several other resources.

Woulda made for a hell of a jobs program. We could have been laughing talking (at work) about how the investment bankers (and a few others) look in their prison jumpsuits, instead of how to visit more misery and early death on seniors with social security and medicare cuts.

[econoclast]

8. Since 16.1 trillion in loans is clearly IMPOSSIBLE

I was curious to see just how the real data was tortured into aggregating to 16.1 trillion dollars

Found it in footnote ... To wit

If an institution borrowed 10 billion overnight, but each day, for thirty days, rolled over that 10billion dollar loan it shows up in the aggregate "aggregate borrowing" 300 billion dollars. If that same institution borrowed the same 10 billion dollars for the same 30 days but did the initial loan as a 30 day term loan instead, that loan shows up as "aggregate borrowing" of only 10 billion dollars.

Cute!

This 16.1 trillion dollar figure is one of those "gee whizzz" numbers that has little bearing on what happened in reality, but is designed to elicit a particular response from the reader.

Like saying I have a 150,000 dollar mortgage. I refinanced it twice to get lower rates

According to this logic I borrowed 450,000 dollars.

[banned from Kos]

11. Good find. Yes, that $16 trillion number is clearly misleading

If you rolled your $150,000 mortgage over 30 straight days you really borrowed $4.5 million. That is a lot of house!

[ProSense]

10. "The audit was conducted

...on a one-time basis, as mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, passed last year. Fed officials had strongly discouraged lawmakers from ordering the audit, claiming it may serve to undermine confidence in the monetary system."