Last week JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon suggested to the president he would like to return the TARP funds received ASAP. The president would hear nothing of it:
The president offered an analogy: “This is like a patient who’s on antibiotics,” he said. “Maybe the patient starts feeling better after a couple of days, but you don’t stop taking the medicine until you’ve finished the bottle.” Returning the money too early, the president argued could send a bad signal.
A bad signal? A repayment suggesting that the bank might be healthy enough to manage its own affairs? Perhaps it shows the world the banks might not NEED government’s intervention after all. What might be the motivation for such a disagreement by the president?
One word… POWER.
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