Economics: TARP Expected to Cost U.S. Only $25 Billion, CBO Says

The Troubled Asset Relief Program, which was widely reviled as a $700 billion bailout for Wall Street titans, is now expected to cost the federal government a mere $25 billion - the equivalent of less than six months of emergency jobless benefits.

The TARP was conceived in the final days of the Bush administration and pushed through a reluctant Congress in less than three weeks. It is widely thought to have helped stabilize a financial sector on the verge of collapse, though it remains hugely unpopular with the public. In the recent midterm elections, numerous lawmakers lost their jobs or failed in bids for new ones because of their support for the program.

For more, see TARP Expected to Cost U.S. Only $25 Billion, CBO Says by Lori Montgomery, November 29, 2010 at The Washington Post.