John Ostrower

On the second try, the House passes a sprawling $700 billion government rescue of the financial industry.

At the time, I remember the government's argument being we have to get this done.

If we don't do this, the American economy will fail.

We had allowed the meltdown of the financial system.

Unemployment might be double what it is today.

More businesses would certainly have closed.

More homes would have surely been lost.

If we are to look back and talk about what went right and what went wrong there, let's start with what went right.

I think I hear you saying that in the case of TARP, bailing out the big financial institutions was worth it.

What wasn't worth it?

But what are the long-term effects of the government having to get involved with a private company and save its rear end?

Like, does the relationship continue at all?

Are there any ripple effects?

Or is this just like, we bail you out, you pay us back, it's all done?

All right.

So in the first half of the show, we heard that our guest theorized that President Trump was interested in bailing out Spirit Airlines because he loves aviation.

He loves airlines.

He loves planes.

And it made us wonder whether, from your perspective, a bailout by the government in the case of Spirit would have made any sense at all.

Was President Trump seeing something that some of us missed or was this just, did this just feel to you like an incoherent suggestion or a bad idea?