Yves: Obama No Longer Bothering to Lie Credibly: Claims Financial Crisis Cost Less Than S&L Crisis

[Karmadillo]

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2010/10/obama-no-longer-bothering-to-lie-credibly-claims-financial-crisis-cost-less-than-sl-crisis.html

Obama No Longer Bothering to Lie Credibly: Claims Financial Crisis Cost Less Than S&L Crisis

I’m so offended by the latest Obama canard, that the financial crisis of 2007-2008 cost less than 1% of GDP, that I barely know where to begin. Not only does this Administration lie on a routine basis, it doesn’t even bother to tell credible lies. .And this one came directly from the top, not via minions. It’s not that this misrepresentation is earth-shaking, but that it epitomizes why the Obama Administration is well on its way to being an abject failure.

<edit>

The savings & loan crisis led to FDIC takeovers of dud banks and the creation of a resolution authority to dispose of bad assets. That produced costs which were largely funded by the Federal government. I’ve heard economists repeatedly peg the costs at $110 to $120 billion; Wikipedia puts it at about $150 billion. This approach, of cleaning up and resolving banks, has been found repeatedly to be the fastest and least costly way to contend with a financial crisis.

The reason Obama can claim such phony figures is that many of the costs of saving the financial system are hidden, the biggest being the ongoing transfer from savers to banks of negative real interest rates, which is a covert way to rebuild bank equity.

[TwilightZone]

1. GDP is about $14.5 trillion. 1% of $14.5 trillion is $145 billion.

The math really isn't that difficult.

[Justitia]

2. My husband worked for the gov't closing banks - the two aren't even close.

He did the shutdowns in TX, the S & L failure eclipses the more recent numbers by powers of 10.

AND it is STILL an actual line item in the federal budget today - and will be for a very long time.

This hitpiece is 100% horseshit.

[pitohui]

4. for sure in tx & la it wasn't even close, the s&l crisis was just mind blowingly large

in my state, louisiana, the s&l crisis, was a major disaster, at one point there were 50,000 boarded up foreclosed houses in the greater new orleans area and the resolution trust company was the largest or second largest owner of real estate in the entire nation!

this recession is bad but 1) it was caused by another bush, just like the first one, and 2) it is NOWHERE near the size of the s&l collapse, at least around here

i don't understand how people can get away with hating on obama for this...are people really this blinded by their racism? because if they voted their pocketbook there would never be a republican in public office above dog catcher again after the early 1990s...

[Karmadillo]

3. Kick

nt

[pitohui]

5. obama need not lie, he is simply telling the truth

see my other post below

seriously, what the hell is the matter w. people? i guess if you were like 2 years old in 1990 you have an excuse for not remembering the size of the s&l crisis but if you were already an adult by then...well... what can i say?