Goldman Sachs' Bet With Taxpayer Dollars Paid Off

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The $3.44 billion in profits that Goldman Sachs reported for the 2nd quarter indicates that their bets with taxpayer dollars paid off. In addition to the $10 billion that Goldman borrowed through the TARP, it also borrowed $28 billion that was guaranteed by the FDIC. In addition, it likely borrowed substantial amounts of taxpayer dollars from the Fed's special lending facilities, although the Fed will not disclose how much Goldman borrowed. And, Goldman was given more than 12 billion taxpayer dollars through AIG. Apparently, Goldman used its borrowed money to take risky bets. It seems that the bets paid off well. If they hadn't, then taxpayers could have lost a large amount of money.

--Dean Baker

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