New Fox News piece: Guess What, America, You're Bailing Out Banks All Over the World!

My newest piece at Fox News starts this way:

To say that Americans weren't thrilled by the original government bailout of American financial institutions is an understatement. But if they were upset with that plan, imagine how furious they’re going to be when they start to understand that the Obama administration has begun bailing out banks from Japan, Canada and Europe.

There are two ways that the U.S. is bailing out these countries' banks. First, the Federal Reserve is providing banks around the world with loans at below market interest rates. It mirrors what the Federal Reserve did last year when it gave American banks loans at near zero interest. The banks then turned around and used these government loans to lend money back to the Federal government by buying U.S. Treasury bonds, on which the banks received higher interest rates. The bottom line is obvious: it is just an outright gift to foreign banks.

With the exception of $30 billion to Canadian banks, the Federal Reserve won't reveal how much of these subsidized loans they are giving to foreign banks. And why we would want to subsidize Canadian banks is a mystery in the first place. . . .