If you've been watching your IRA with a grim face lately, you might want to check this out -- it's a real-time accounting of what the GM bailout has directly cost taxpayers, based on the bailed-out company's current share price.
As part of the bailout -- a scheme that appears to have chiefly benefited the UAW by preventing a dramatic loss in membership -- Uncle Sam accepted GM equity for an inflated price in order to put the automaker on firmer footing. The shares that the U.S. still holds will have to reach $53 each for taxpayers to break even. As I write, they're trading below $23, which makes for a loss of roughly $15.1 billion.
Thanks to Seton Motley for sending this along.
