Bob McCarty Writes

Barry Ritholtz, author of the soon-to-be-published book, “Bailout Nation,” might have summed up the nation’s financial crisis and subsequent government bailout efforts best when he wrote, “Go figure: WWII was a relative bargain.”

In a post published yesterday on his blog, The Big Picture, Ritholtz reveals research findings that show the government’s $7.75 trillion in bailout commitments will cost more than the combined inflation-adjusted total costs of the Marshall Plan, the Louisiana Purchase, the race to the moon, the savings and loan bailout, the Korean War, the New Deal, the Iraq war, the Vietnam war and NASA’s lifetime budget!

Ritholtz’s revelation comes two days after Bloomberg reported the U.S. government is prepared to provide more than $7.76 trillion on behalf of American taxpayers after guaranteeing $306 billion of Citigroup Inc. debt yesterday. The pledges, amounting to half the value of everything produced in the nation last year, are intended to rescue the financial system after the credit markets seized up 15 months ago.

To see a recent interview of Ritholtz by The Wall Street Journal Online, click here.  The research findings were provided to him by Jim Bianco of Bianco Research.

Hat tips:  Counterpunch and Red County