- January 10, 2023
- Posted by: Stratford Team
- Category: Economy
It can be argued that TARP worked, or at least didn’t fail: The financial system recovered, the program ended up costing less than initially projected and, as Kashkari likes to point out, the government ended up making a profit on the bailout of the banks. But it was wildly unpopular: While millions of Americans lost their homes and savings, the Wall Streeters who crashed the economy were rescued from their own greed and folly. Even though he became an object of scorn, Kashkari says he understands the rage that people felt: The bailout was antithetical to the spirit of capitalism, and as he puts it, “When you violate the core beliefs of a society, I think it leads to great anger.” The anger was exacerbated when none of the major culprits faced any legal reckoning. Kashkari says that TARP was necessary to save the economy but helped fuel the populist backlash that has destabilized our politics.
The 2007-9 crisis also prompted a change in how he…
