You are still looking at it in terms of money. That is not what it was about, at least for the rebels on Reddit. True, the hedge funds will live to see another day, but they were forced to get some very substantial loans to do so. That was not optional on their part. They lost control of the situation, and THAT is what this was all about. For the wealthy elite, such loss of control, a temporary denial of power, had them freaking out. Making these smug manipulators bounce off the wall must have been singularly gratifying to the little guys.
- TARP? It would be good if the US took over the banks and replaced them with a single national bank, but that is a long, long way from reality. Back in 2008 / 9, if nearly all banks had been allowed to fail, nearly everyone would have found their bank accounts reduced to zero. Those deposits are covered by FDIC, yes, but how would FDIC have replaced everyone's money?
Replace all the banks with a single bank? Do you mean a single government-owned bank? I can't imagine anything that would be worse. Socialism didn't work for the Soviet Union and it wouldn't work for the US. What I was suggesting is that the US government should have taken control of the failing banks, put a team of technocrats in charge, and then recapitalize the banks. Once the banks were restored to profitability, the government could sell them and recoup at least some of the cost.
The 2008 recession was a direct consequence of repealing the Glass-Steagall Act, which was enacted to prevent just such a disaster from reoccurring. Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it, and the Democrats and Republicans teamed up to do exactly that. A two-party oligarchy is better than a one-party dictatorship, but nowhere near as effective as a multiparty democracy. Fat chance of that happening anytime soon in the US, though. The Republicans and Democratic elite may disagree publicly, but for each the other is the devil they know.
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