Links Sunday Bailout Edition

I read a story on Bloomberg stating that the US government already committed $9.7 trillion dollars to save our economy.  This is hardly a surprise, but what really shocked me was the same amount of money could have been used to pay off more than 90% of the whole nation’s mortgages.

I understand that we are “supposed” to receive some of our money back by investing in our nation’s banks.  But with every cent of our commitment WAY under water right now (if you don’t believe me, just look at Citigroup’s stock chart), I can’t see why we keep going this route.  If the government just pay off every single mortgage debt instead, wouldn’t the banks be saved anyway?  I mean, the banks could get their full investment back and the investors (CDOs or whatever other derivatives) all get the original money back.  Isn’t that a better way?

I don’t have a house right now and having all my friend’s mortgages paid off would make me quite jealous I’m sure but why is that a bad choice for the government?  Maybe it’s too late but something interesting to ponder.

Personal Finance Articles

• In this recession, why don’t we follow SVB’s advice and have some cheap meals?
• ABCs of Investing gave a brief comparison of what taxable and non-taxable accounts are.
• Lazy Man and Money isn’t so lazy after all.  He’s come up with a ton of ways to save money on hotels with a little bit of work.
• I wrote an article listing a few ways to get free stock trading at Investing School.  If you ever want to take advantage of no commission trading for the rest of your life, head over there!

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