Can anyone explain for us the difference between SB and his gangsters pouring Italian taxpayers' money into AZ ( illegal under EU law, apparently ) and the UK government pouring UK taxpayers' money into some of their banks ( to be encouraged, apparently )
Yes I'd be pleased to help explain. The Italian Government bailout of Alitalia is a simple and direct 2 Billion Euro write-off charged to the taxpayer, absorbing all accumulated losses and associated re-structuring costs, so that Uncle Sylvio and the boys can walk away with the valuable assest for a song. This is not an investment but a charge, with undertones of corruption disguised as nationalism. In the case of the Banks, these are investments which will both fix the problems in the banking system/credit markets and will yield a good return. The preferred shares involved will yield a 10% return, and take priority over payment of divdends to holders of common stock, then over time as the banks recover will be sold for a capital gain. Aka a good investment. Desirable? No. Necessary? Yes. Fair? Yes because the shareholders, whilst not getting wiped out will probably not receive dividends for many years. The alternative would have been failure and worthless stock. Conversely, the taxpayer gets a good investment at a good rate of return.
There. That's not so difficult to understand is it?