For Years WallStreet Spent More on Buybacks Than It Earned-Now They Want Bailout
People seem to forget that when a business goes under, there's still something left.<p>If an airline goes down, the planes are not immediately turned to dust. The pilots and ground crew do not forget how to fly and maintain aircraft.<p>What happens at bankruptcy is that the claims on various assets are reassigned. The planes will get sold to someone who reckons they know how to run an airline, and the staff are likewise hired by new businesses.<p>This is worth keeping in mind when considering bailouts, because they tend to keep things in the hands of the same people, sometimes even on not much worse terms. And that's despite having steered the firm into the ground.<p>Don't forget there's value in this sort of reassignment. Assets and labor get moved around in new configurations that might be better.