One of the more troubling aspects of the structure of the TARP bailouts is the potential to have government officials and their political agendas influence the day-to-day operations of the corporations who received funds. Already we hear threats from politicians demanding that TARP funds be spent in certain ways. Now we see signs of actual influence in company operations. From yesterday’s Financial Times web article “Treasury pushes Citi to cancel jet order,”
The US financial sector’s new political masters began exerting their influence on Tuesday as Citigroup was forced to scrap the purchase of a $50m executive jet that was seen as a misuse of money at a time when the bank is reliant on public support.
Only a day earlier, Citi had insisted it would complete the acquisition of the aircraft. But it backed down after officials acting for Tim Geithner, the new Treasury secretary, expressed strong opposition to the move…
Mr Geithner and his colleagues know that any full-scale overhaul of the financial sector will almost certainly require more funds from Congress. So their immediate priority is to restore confidence in the recapitalisation process, which polls suggest is deeply unpopular. An essential element of this is convincing the public that the money is being used in ways that benefit the wider economy.
