Where is money hidden?
Rep. Paul Kanjorski, who is chair of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, said in a C-SPAN interview that on Sept. 18, 2008, there was a $550 billion electronic run on U.S. money market funds which threatened to cripple our economy.
As a result, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Board Chair Benjamin Bernanke came to Congress for additional authority and funds. So was born the “TARP” (Toxic Assets Recovery Program).
The principals soon felt that it would be more effective to give capital to the banks rather than buy their bad assets. Thus, many banks have been partially nationalized.
Because we have not addressed the bad assets problem, we are no better off now. The federal funds rate on Sept. 18, 2008, was 2 percent. It is now 0 percent.
The money from the bank run went somewhere; it did not just disappear. People in charge of Treasury and the Fed must have answers.
Why is that question not being asked? Why doesn’t someone in the know give us answers? Were speculators or sovereign wealth funds responsible? The explanation to the start of our economic problems is down that rabbit hole. Follow the money.
Frank A. Malone
Spokane