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  3. One lesson of the financial crisis is this: when the entire financial system succumbs (屈服) to panic, only the government is powe

One lesson of the financial crisis is this: when the entire financial system succumbs (屈服) to panic, only the government is powe

admin2012-08-05  18
问题     One lesson of the financial crisis is this: when the entire financial system succumbs (屈服) to panic, only the government is powerful enough to prevent a complete collapse. Panics signify the triumph of fear. Troubled Assets Relieve Program (TARP) was part of the process by which fear was overcome. It wasn’t the only part, but it was an essential part. Without TARP, we’d be worse off today. No one can say whether unemployment would be 11% or 14%; it certainly wouldn’t be 8.9 percent.
    That benefited all Americans. TARP, says Douglas Elliott of the Brookings Institution, "is the best large federal program to be despised by the public." The source of outrage is no secret. Bankers are blamed for the crisis and reviled. The bank bailout—TARP’s first and most important purpose—was unpopular. Most Americans, says Elliott, "believe that taxpayers spent $ 700 billion and got nothing in return. "
    What this ignores is that an alternative being promoted at the time was widespread nationalization of banks. The cost would have been many times higher; the practical problems would have been enormous. As it was, TARP invested $245 billion in banks. The extra capital helped restore trust. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve increased its lending; the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. guaranteed $ 350 billion of bank borrowings. Banks resumed dealing with each other because they regained confidence that commitments would be honored. Of the $ 245 billion invested in banks, the Treasury has already recovered about $ 244 billion, including interest payments, dividends (红利), and cash from sold bank stock warrants. So the bank rescue has roughly broken even. When TARP’s remaining bank investments are closed, the Treasury expects an overall profit of about $ 20 billion.
    Almost all of TARP’s activities have been distasteful. This was surely true of the rescue of General Motors and Chrysler. But the automakers’ collapse would clearly have worsened already gloomy unemployment. Did we really want these companies to shut down, with some plants sold to foreign automakers? We need to remember that TARP was a desperate program for desperate times. But some criticisms are broad generalities that, on inspection, are highly suspect. One common assertion is that TARP will encourage more reckless risk-taking because big financial firms know they’ll be bailed out if their gambles backfire. Bankers keep profits but are protected against losses, which are assumed by the public.
    This is a serious issue, but TARP’s legacy is actually the opposite. During the crisis, investors in banks and financial institutions suffered huge losses. It wasn’t predictable which institutions would survive and which wouldn’t—or on what terms. The same would be true in the future. Indeed, TARP’s extreme unpopularity compounds uncertainty, because it suggests that politicians will recoil (退缩) from more bailouts. The moral hazard is more imagined than real.
What do we learn about TARP from the first paragraph?
选项 A、It played an important role in combating fear in the financial crisis.
B、It was considered as the last resort used by the federal government.
C、It made more people lose their jobs and more firms go bankrupt.
D、It caused great panic and confusion among US citizens.
答案A
解析 事实细节题。第一段提出问题资产纾困计划的重要作用：它是战胜恐惧过程的一部分。它不是唯一的部分，但是必不可少的部分。由此可见，问题资产纾困计划在抗击金融危机的恐惧中扮演重要的角色，因此答案为A)。
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