April 29, 2010—Bailout Updates
Subsidyscope began posting analysis of the financial bailout in January 2009 and is providing updates with new information and estimates where available. The purpose of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) was to infuse banks with capital to prevent failure and insolvency. One of the most notable developments since early 2009 has been the faster than anticipated repayments of monies originally disbursed by the Treasury Department to financial institutions under TARP. This has dramatically reduced estimates of TARP’s ultimate cost.
Recent updates include the following:
- In January 2010, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) updated estimates of the costs of the subsidies to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. CBO projects that between fiscal years 2010 and 2019, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will receive approximately $79 billion in federal subsidies in addition to the $291 billion received in 2009. These updated estimates are discussed on Subsidyscope’s Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac page.
- As of April 21, 2010, the Treasury Department had received approximately $186 billion in repayments from TARP recipients. For more information on the TARP repayments, please see the Subsidyscope’s TARP Disbursements page.
- In January 2010, CBO updated its estimates of TARP costs, projecting a $99 billion cost over the life of the program. Please see the TARP Subsidies/CBO Estimates page for more details.
- Subsidyscope's TARP Warrants page has also been updated. In May of 2009, the Treasury Department began to dispose of warrants it purchased under TARP and participating banks have repurchased about a quarter of the value of the total warrant portfolio. See the TARP Warrants page for more information.
January 26, 2009
To help stem a looming recession in 2008 and 2009, the federal government intervened in the nation's economy in unprecedented ways. Those actions have raised citizens' awareness about the role of subsidies in the economy and heightened concerns about their size and scope. However, it has been and remains difficult to find comprehensive data on the financial interventions in a single, easy-to-use Web site.
To fill this void, Subsidyscope — an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts — has compiled data on the financial institutions that are receiving benefits from the various federal programs so users can understand how and where taxpayer dollars are being spent.
The drop-down menus above provide information and data about bailout programs through various federal agencies. For example, users will find several pages on TARP under the Treasury tab, as well as information about bank failures under the FDIC tab.