You can’t make this stuff up!
– Treasury “Out” Of GM For $10.5 Billion Loss (Claims 768% ROI) (ZeroHedge, Dec 9, 2013):
The spin does not get any better than this… As they reported they would,
- *LEW SAYS U.S. SOLD ALL REMAINING SHARES OF GENERAL MOTORS RECOUPING $39 BLN OF ORIGINAL GM INVESTMENT
That is a $10.5 Billion loss! But, The Center for Automotive Research, a Michigan nonprofit organization that analyzes auto industry issues, those funds “saved or avoided the loss of $105.3 billion in transfer payments and the loss of personal and social insurance tax collections — or 768% of the net investment.”
And The White House…
Efforts Saved Jobs, Helped Stabilize Economy During Financial Crisis
WASHINGTON – As the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) continues to wind down, the U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced that it has sold all of the remaining shares of General Motors (GM) common stock.
“The President’s leadership in responding to the financial crisis helped stabilize the auto industry, and prevent another Great Depression. With the final sale of GM stock, this important chapter in our nation’s history is now closed,” said Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew. “The President understood that inaction could have cost the broader economy more than one million jobs, billions in lost personal savings, and significantly reduced economic production. As a result of his efforts, which built on those of the previous Administration, more than 370,000 new auto jobs have been created, and all three U.S. automakers are profitable, competitive, and growing.”
Treasury has recouped a total of $39 billion from the original GM investment. To date, Treasury has recovered a total of $432.7 billion on all TARP investments – including the sale of Treasury’s shares in AIG – compared to $421.8 billion disbursed. Treasury will continue to wind down the remaining investments in a manner that balances maximizing the taxpayer’s return on investments with the speed of our exit.
…
Additionally, the center said the bailouts and financial restructurings saved about 2.6 million jobs in the U.S. economy in 2009 and $284.4 billion in personal income over 2009 and 2010.
In the report, “The Effect on the U.S. Economy of the Successful Restructuring of General Motors,” researchers Sean McAlinden and Debra Maranger Menk wrote that the value of the bailouts can’t be considered just by what the taxpayers will lose in the sale of GM’s stock.…
“If you only count the things that make you look good and don’t count the things that make you look bad, any investment will look good and any investment will be profitable,” said Dan Mitchell, senior fellow at the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute.
He said the analysis doesn’t place a value on the adjustments that the auto industry would have been forced to make in the absence of a bailout.
“Those adjustments, more meaningful concessions in labor costs and work rules, would have put the auto industry on a sounder footing,” he said.
We can’t wait to hear how much Bill Ackman made or saved on his Herbalife investment…
Ackman lost a ton on HLF, but because the company didn’t liquidate he made or saved thousands of Herbalife jobs.
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) December 9, 2013