'The 2008 bailout teaches that without imposing conditions and establishing strong oversight and enforcement, companies will do what comes naturally — which is not necessarily to save their workforce,' writes columnist hiltzikm.
“‘Sunlight is the best disinfectant,’ Justice Brandeis said,” Neil M. Barofsky is telling me. “That’s never been more true.”
You run a very significant risk that rather than preserve jobs, the money is going to flow right through the company and into the pockets of shareholders.Then a federal prosecutor in New York, Barofsky was appointed by President George W. Bush that year to oversee the bank bailout, formally known as the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP. His title was special inspector general, which made his office SIGTARP.
Yet the proposal originally advanced by Senate Republicans would have weak or even nonexistent oversight, or mandates that companies spend the money on their workforce. Much of the cash would be disbursed at the discretion of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, with the recipients not even disclosed until six months after they’re funded.When calamity strikes — especially avoidable calamity — the human instinct is to look for the silver lining, often by calling the event a “teachable moment.
Even with legally binding oversight, the 2008 bailout failed to achieve its stated goals, which were to jump-start bank lending, especially to small business and home-buyers, and to protect homeowners from foreclosure.
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