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September 22, 2008 – Dean Baker on the Proposed $700 Billion Bailout of Wall Street, the Largest Government Bailout of Private Industry in US History Its being described as the largest government intervention in private markets since the Great Depression. The Bush administration has asked Congress to swiftly approve a massive $700 billion package to rescue the crippled financial institutions on Wall Street. Some analysts say the final cost to taxpayers could top one trillion dollars. Over the weekend, the size of the proposed bailout grew as the Bush administration said foreign banks, including Barclays and UBS, should be eligible for the bailout. Dean Baker, Economist and co-director of the Washington, DC-based Center for Economic and Policy Research. He is a frequent commentator and columnist, and his blog is called Beat the Press. He is the author of several books including The United States Since 1980 and The Conservative Nanny State: How the Wealthy Use the Government to Stay Rich and Get Richer. Well, essentially, what the President has asked for is a $700 billion blank check. He wants Congress to hand over $700 billion to Henry Paulson to use to buy, you know, bad originally mortgage-backed securities. Theres apparently an effort by the financial community to broaden that, but basically he would have a blank check to bail out Wall Street. And let me just make one point that everyone should be very, very clear on. This was not an accident, in the sense that this is …