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    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    Is the Bank Bailout Still Going On?

    Four years after the Toxic Asset Relief Program , America's twelve biggest banks are bigger than ever — and still protected by the guarantee of taxpayer money. Even a member of the Federal Reserve says they need to be broken up before increasingly risky investments provoke another financial crisis.

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    By Warren Olney • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

    Four years after the Toxic Asset Relief Program, America's twelve biggest banks are bigger than ever — and still protected by the guarantee of taxpayer money. Even a member of the Federal Reserve says they need to be broken up before increasingly risky investments provoke another financial crisis. TARP, supported by both the Bush and Obama Administrations, was supposed to provide foreclosure relief for abused homeowners, but a pending settlement is now being described as "another gift to the banks." We hear about the consequences, intended and otherwise, of government action to "save the economy."

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    The Legacy of Too Big to Fail
    1. 0:00Israel’s Netanyahu Keeps Power, but Centrists Score in Election
    2. 7:49Is the Bank Bailout Still Going On?You’re reading this
    3. 43:05Hillary Clinton Testifies on Benghazi
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Caitlin Shamberg

      KCRW

    • Sonya Geis with wavy brown hair wearing a black dress with red accents and decorative earrings against a white background.

      Sonya Geis

      Senior Managing Editor

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Anna Scott

      Former KCRW Housing and Homelessness Reporter

    • KCRW placeholder

      Matt Taibbi

      Contributing Editor, Rolling Stone

    • KCRW placeholder

      Edward 'Ted' Kaufman

      former US Senator (D-DE)

    • KCRW placeholder

      Harvey Rosenblum

      Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

      NewsNationalPolitics

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    The Legacy of Too Big to Fail
    1. 0:00Israel’s Netanyahu Keeps Power, but Centrists Score in Election
    2. 7:49Is the Bank Bailout Still Going On?You’re reading this
    3. 43:05Hillary Clinton Testifies on Benghazi
    Back to To the Point