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A comment on Hazard pay in focus as essential workers earn less than the jobless. Parent comment

Re:Hazard pay in focus as essential workers earn less than t... by gregwebs on Thursday July 02, 2020 @01:35PM (#23715785)
Some of the bailout loans might break even, but this is only some of what is going on. The paycheck protection loans get forgiven and are essentially just handing out money (with the caveat that it goes to labor costs). We also handed out $210 billion in tax cuts which is just a handout.

On the whole the fed's balance sheet actually went up by 4 trillion dollars during the 2008 recovery [1] even though the loan program was less than 1 trillion. There is a trillion dollars of mortgage backed security purchases there that are a less visible bailout. The fed has already added 2 trillion this time with more to come.

[1] https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/bst_recenttren...

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Re:Hazard pay in focus as essential workers earn less than t... by koheripbal on Thursday July 02, 2020 @02:12PM (#23716234)
In 2008, the US Gov't made hundreds of billions on the bailout loans they gave.

Let me make that clear. Whenever people say "Wall St was bailed out by the taxpayers", they don't understand finance well enough to know that the taxpayers actually earned a significant PROFIT from that bailout.

...and naturally the media doesn't report on that important detail.

"socialize the losses, privatize the gains" is a slogan based on complete ignorance.

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Re:Hazard pay in focus as essential workers earn less than t... by rbrtl on Friday July 03, 2020 @10:58AM (#23724564)
MIT Distinguished Professor of Finance, Deborah J. Lucas, who is also the director of the Golub Center for Finance and Policy would disagree with you: http://gcfp.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/BailoutsV12.p...

She's done research and cites evidence. You CAPITALISE basic terminology to patronise people out of wanting to challenge you.

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Re:Hazard pay in focus as essential workers earn less than t... by gammarator on Thursday July 02, 2020 @06:11PM (#23718708)
Since at least some of those companies were insolvent, the US taxpayer would have been better compensated if the companies had been nationalized instead. Wiping out the existing shareholders avoids moral hazard in the future as well.
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