Banks get bailed out, Greece doesn’t

Joseph Cannon came across this information on a comment thread on the Moon of Alabama blog.  It compares the amounts of the U.S. government bailouts of banks to the bailout needed to save Greece.

Citigroup – Citigroup $2.513 Trillion

Morgan Stanley – $2.041 Trillion

Merrill Lynch – $1.949 Trillion

Bank of America – $1.344 Trillion

Barclays PLC – $868 Billion

Bear Sterns – $853 B

Goldman Sachs – $814 B

Royal Bank of Scotland – $541 B

JP Morgan Chase $391 B

GREECE $370 BILLION

Deutche Bank – $354 B

UBS – $287 B

Credit Suisse – $262 B

Lehman Bros – $183 B

Bank of Scotland – $181 B

BNP Paribas – $175 B

Wells Fargo – $159 B

Dexia – $159 B

Wachovia – $142 B

Dresdner Bank – $135 B

via Moon of Alabama.

What these figures show—I haven’t verified them, but I take them to be correct—is that a rescure of Greece is not beyond the realm of fiscal possibility.

Now you could argue that these comparisons are unfair because the banks paid back their TARP funds.  That’s true, but, as Cannon pointed out, they paid them back largely with other government money.

The real reason that the comparisons are unfair is that the bulk of the Greek debt has been transferred from private banks to quasi-public entities.  Greece is not comparable to Citigroup or Morgan Stanley.  Rather the people are Greece are comparable to the people who lost their homes to mortgage foreclosures.

LINKS

Yes, This Is a Coup by Mike the Mad Biologist.

The truth revealed: There can be no freedom in the Eurozone by Ian Dunt for politics.co.uk.

Hat tip for the following three links to Joseph Cannon’s Cannonfire.

A Union of Deflation and Unemployment by Ari Andricopolous on his Notes on the Next Bust blog.

‘Secret’ History of the Greek Crisis by William R. Polk for Consortium News.

Germany doesn’t want to save Greece.  It seems to want to humiliate Greece by Matt O’Brien for the Washington Post.

Tags: Bank Bailouts, Greek debt crisis, TARP