Loan Ranger

Step right up, and don't be shy
'Cause you will not believe your eyes
--The Tubes

After more than a year in court, the Fed has finally released data on its bank lending programs during the credit market meltdown in 2008/2009. Some mind numbing numbers. $1.2 trillion in loans plus a pledge to backstop about $7 trillion on bank liabilities. Bloomberg estimates that nearly 200 banks participating in the Fed's programs could have made nearly $13 trillion by investing the Fed's loans that they took.

Many people continue to pat themselves on the back that these measures averted a system meltdown. The numbers above should tell you that we printed our way out of this episode. Those hurt go beyond taxpayers, as anyone holding dollars now has less wealth in hand. Not to mention the elevated moral hazard...

It continues to amaze me how people keep pointing to the banks and the rich as the 'cause' of widening income differentials in this country...