Michael Perelman wrote:
>What is the best estimate of the cost of
>the S&L bailout?
I had a researcher call around DC a few years ago - CBO, OMB, OTS,
GAO, private entities - and no one had a good estimate, which utterly
amazed me. In the historical budget tables, "deposit insurance" comes
in negative for almost all years before 1986 (premiums exceeded
outlays, after all). It was positive from 1986 to 1992, for a sum
over those years of $163.2 billion. It went negative again after
1992. There were also asset sales which offset the earlier costs. But
the bailout was financed with long-term bonds, so there are interest
costs that may not appear in the deposit insurance budget line. Get
your Congressperson to demand a good estimate from GAO.
Doug
