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by Retric 2292 days ago
Opportunity cost, the banks in no way payed out what that money was worth at the time. Hand me 1 billion interest free for 5 years and sure I will pay the money back, but...
2 comments

As that points out, not all loans where paid back. The interest from those that did result in a nominal profit, but it’s far from what private lenders received for loans in that time period.

Thus opportunity cost, as it was a poor investment which is why it was called a bailout.

If they had other opportunities at higher rates, they would have lent at that rate.
Yes but assuming bankruptcy would have actually destroyed the US economy (highly debatable) then it was a low cost measure.