U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is calling it a day. So is Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, the $418 billion effort to rescue banks, automakers and other companies during the financial crisis.
In announcing its intention to complete the sale of the remaining shares it owned in General Motors Co. (GM), American International Group Inc. (AIG) and 218 smaller banks, Treasury is essentially ending a controversial bailout that kept the financial system from collapse at a cost far less than many imagined in the darkest days of 2008.
Most banks are healthy again, backed by billions more in capital. The U.S. auto industry is thriving. Even AIG has shed the assets that almost sank the global financial system. The ultimate price tag is expected to be between $24 billion and $60 billion, or less than 1 percent of gross domestic product and far less than previous financial catastrophes.
looking beyond borders 