One of the great (awful) things about TARP was the brilliant (daft) plan to buy assets at above fire-sale (intensely overvalued) prices. This bit of financial wizardry (outright fraud) would have permitted banks with temporarily encumbered assets (irredeemable toxic sludge) to reprice their balance sheets based on the marks (fantasy) set by the Treasury's purchases. This has the added effect of improving the tenor (thickening the miasma) of the market and restoring confidence (validating pessimism).
Given the innate brilliance (intellectual bankruptcy) of this part of the plan, it is not surprising to see it back, as clever solutions are few and far between (we have nothing else to do but sit and watch)....
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Bank Bailout, Phase II
From DealBreaker:
