$3.43 Trillion & Counting

The real cost of the Wall Street bailout.

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


$154

8/9/07: Fed and European Central Bank inject $154 billion into financial system.

$38

8/10/07: Fed injects another $38 billion.

$17.25

8/23/07: Fed injects $17.25 billion.

$31.25

9/6/07: Fed adds $31.25 billion in reserves to US money markets.

$29

3/24/08: Fed agrees to lend $29 billion to facilitate Bear Stearns acquisition by JPMorgan Chase.

$200

3/27/08: Fed injects $200 billion of Treasury securities.

$300

7/30/08: $300 billion Federal Housing Administration bailout passed.

$200

9/7/08: Quasi-nationalization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac accompanied by a Treasury pledge to back $200 billion of their losses.

$155

9/16/08: Fed agrees to pay $85 billion for 80% stake in aig. Also adds $70 billion in cash to keep credit flowing after Lehman Brothers fails.

$235

9/18/08: Fed injects $180 billion to shore up money markets and $55 billon in overnight lending to US banking system.

$480

9/29/08: Fed announces it will supply $330 billion to other central banks, triples supply of corporate short-term loans to $225 billion.

$700

10/3/08: $700 billion bailout fund passed.

$37.8

10/8/08: Fed authorizes another $37.8 billion for aig.

$540

10/21/08: Fed injects $540 billion into money market funds.

$144

10/27/08: Fed opens emergency commercial paper window, lends $144 billion in three days.

$100

11/6/08: $100 billion added to commercial paper facility.

$27.5

11/10/08: Fed gives aig another $27.5 billion.

total cost:
$3.4 trillion
Annual interest (at 5%): $170 billion


DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate