These words written by a fellow blogger say it the best
The Argentine population can be outraged that their government might consider buying a bankrupt and debt-laden airline for nearly US$ 1B yet there are two primary differences between this action and that of the planned bailout of the U.S. financial sector.
First, the Aerolineas Argentinas buyout represents only .38% of Argentina's GDP. The U.S. $700B bailout represents 5% of the US GDP.
Second, the Argentine population will own shares in the airline, whereas in the U.S. the government will own nothing after the proposed plan.
The U.S. government should be applauded for taking action to avoid a run on the banking system. Yet, it seems that if someone should be bailed out, it should be the consumer that may lose his or her home and not a financial institution.
The average U.S. home price is $220,000. The same $700B could buy 3.1 million homes. In 2007 there were 1.5M homes that received foreclosure notices. Obviously not all of those are actually foreclosed. And, many foreclosures are on the speculation of 2nd homes or overzealous developers and builders.
One thing is clear, whether we buy financial institutions or we buy homes, let's take a page from our Argentine neighbor and at least own something at the end. Let's leave bailouts for the World Bank.