Section I. What Creature Is This? Chapter 3 Protectors of the Public Summary and Analysis

Summary

A history of bailouts was outlined in this chapter, starting in 1970 with Penn Central Railroad. The bailout resulted in government-owned Amtrak, which continues to operate at a loss, and privately owned Conrail, which makes a profit. Amtrak had been the passenger side of Penn Central, while Conrail had been the freight side. Also in 1970, Lockheed Corporation had troubles and became a prime government contractor, another way of nationalizing private industry. Unity Bank fell in 1972, as did the Commonwealth Bank of Detroit, and New York City became a major part of the welfare state in 1975 via Federal government bailouts. First Pennsylvania Bank was bailed out in 1980 and the first electronic run on banks happened in 1983, leading to a massive bailout in...