Massive bail-out and developments thereafter

Let us never forget that as a result of the greed, recklessness and illegal behaviour on Wall Street, the USA was plunged into the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. The US Congress rewarded Wall Street with the biggest taxpayer bailout in the history of the world, about three and a half years ago. The US Federal Reserve, its central bank, also opted for an even larger bailout at the same time. Until a provision in the Dodd-Frank Act required the Government Accountability Office to audit the Fed's lending programmes during the financial crisis, the details of such support by the Fed were kept secret. Yet then, there is no reason to believe that the major financial institutions have changed their ways, or that financial disasters and bailouts can be averted in the future. The troubles with the US economy even after massive injection of funds to help the Wall Street, the major banks and the big companies in the USA to help them tide over the same, the overall economic situation there is getting worse. Millions of Americans lost their jobs, homes and life savings as the middle class underwent an unprecedented collapse of the stock market and amid the failures of some of its mega banks. The American people have come to learn, after the audit done in the light of the provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act, how the Federal Reserve extended support more than $16 trillion in low-interest loans to every major financial institution in the USA, large foreign banks, multi-national corporations, and even some of the wealthiest people in the world. When Wall Street was on the verge of collapse, the US federal government did otherwise act wisely, boldly, aggressively and with a fierce sense of urgency to save the financial system from collapse, with no strings attached. Now the middle class in the USA is collapsing and a record-breaking 46 million Americans are living in poverty. But the Federal Reserve has not yet been able to do anything with the same sense of urgency to ease off the their growing helplessness. Many small businesses have not been receiving any affordable loans that are needed to put millions of Americans back to work and to prevent the millions of Americans from losing their homes. About 25 million Americans are unemployed or under-employed. Middle class families there are making $3,600 less than they did 10 years ago. The foreclosure rate continues to brake new records; and the American people are still paying over $3.40 for a gallon of gas. But Wall Street is back to making record-breaking profits, handing out record-breaking compensation packages, and taking the same risks that caused the financial crisis in the first place. This is one of the main factors, fuelling the 'Occupy Wall Street Movement'. All concerned are looking forward to see how things shape up there in the USA and the troubled European economies. Lutful Kabir Mirpur, Dhaka