Auto Industry Appeal

December 3, 2008
Dear Secretary Paulson,
I am writing to you in my capacity as CEO of Joe’s Auto here in Baltimore. Our company may not be as big as Ford or GM, but times are tough for us too, and as part of the American auto industry, we could use your help.
Our operations are relatively small: [...]

Bailout Perspective: Pakistan needs (and gets) less than Citigroup

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a loan for Pakistan, amounting to $7.6 billion to shore up the economy.
The loan will “support the country’s economic stabilization program,” the IMF said in a brief statement.
Pakistan will immediately access $3.1 billion of the loan under a 23-month facility, with the rest phased in, subject to  [...]

Auto Industry Cries Foul

Executives at GM, Ford and Chrysler are howling in outrage today as news spreads that the US Treasury will inject $20 billion into beleaguered Citigroup in exchange for preferred shares.
Treasury Secretary Paulson announced the plan today under the TARP program. The FDIC has also said it will guarantee up to $306 billion of risky [...]

Got TARP?

The government loves acronyms. The newest acronym came to us when the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (the “Act”), more commonly referred to as the $700 billion bailout bill, created the Troubled Assets Relief Program (“TARP”), giving broad authority to the Secretary of the Treasury (the “Secretary”) to purchase troubled assets. 
The Secretary has [...]