Bailouts and buyouts

[cjsmith]

Bear Stearns got a government-orchestrated purchase.
Fannie and Freddie got a Federal takeover.
Merrill Lynch got a government-orchestrated purchase.
"The free ride is over", people said as Lehman was left out to hang.
But today AIG got an $85 billion Federal bailout.

What's with Lehman? Did Dick Fuld piss off Henry Paulson or something?

Comments

[bjarvis.livejournal.com]

It's largely a matter of scale. Lehman was one of the smallest of the Wall Street "biggies," considerably smaller than Fannie, Freddie or AIG.

Gov't-orchestrated purchases have happened regularly for years; we just don't tend to notice them because, frankly, the media didn't think they were news-worthy. Now, every time Paulson farts, it's headline news.

Obligatory disclosure: I'm working on my exit from Fannie Mae currently. :-(

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

OK, scale is one piece I know little about.

If you're heading out of Fannie Mae, you probably know a LOT more of this landscape than I do.