Reply #3: One could argue that agreeing to be on the hook for the $300 billion in Citi's potentially [View All]

[pampango]

bad investments makes it a risky deal. The other side, I think, would argue that the government was going to have to bailout those bad investments if Citi failed, or risk the whole financial system collapsing. If you believe that the government was going to potentially get stuck with that $300 billion anyway and that the guarantees and stock investment make that less likely by shoring up the company, then the investment of the $20 billion could be a good investment. Those are some big IFs however.