fuTuRe sHOcK

Elizabeth MacDonald
Why not declare to the Federal Reserve that you and your family now face “unusual and exigent circumstances” and that you would now like to register with the government as “Home Sweet Home Bank”? Why not do it now, since the government’s escape hatch is going to splinter into smithereens soon, as the Treasury is now inviting congestion with an expansion of its rescue to include other nonbank financial institutions, such as insurers and specialty-finance companies. They, too, could get a bailout under the watery terms of the government’s $250 bn capital purchase program.

Sure, you’d be running through a very crowded door here, joining in a fellowship of juvenilia with the likes of GE Capital, GMAC, Chrysler Finance, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and American Express, now hanging out a bank shingle to put an extra snap in their wilted yellow suspenders with taxpayer money. And that means private banks and insurers like Allstate and MetLife, which own thrifts, could be joining you in line. So far, 52 financial institutions have reportedly received preliminary or final approval for about $172 bn of the $250 bn available under the government’s capital-infusion program, according to Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, with another 23 companies that have submitted applications for an additional $4.6 bn. More

Tags: Allstate, American Express, bailouts, Chrysler Finance, federal reserve, GE Capital, GMAC, Goldman Sachs, MetLife, Morgan Stanley