Remember the $700 BILLION dollar TARP bailout?
Reviled by all. Catalyst of the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street movements. TARP is still reverberating through the political atmosphere, serving as the subject of attack ads and even the inspiration for primary campaigns.
But is the hated TARP really that bad? Has it been a catastrophe for taxpayers?
Actually, no. Third Way’s new analysis of publicly available Treasury documents and our accompanying infographic, reveal that TARP is just about breaking even. Instead of a handout, nearly all of the TARP money was issued as loans. Most of these loans have been paid back—with interest.
TARP was one of the rare occasions where Congress came together in a bipartisan way and did something that was tremendously unpopular but also absolutely necessary. Our analysis reveals that it’s time to stop treating TARP like it’s been a disaster and call it the success that it’s been.
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