The $9.7 Trillion Pledged to Fix the Financial Mess Could Have Paid off 90% of America’s Mortgages, Report Says

We're sure we're getting our money's worth, giving it out to the culprits to do God-knows-what with, in exchange for God-knows-what. But here's what really has been worrying us for the past 1-2 years:

And simple mathematics calls into question assertions that another bailout will rescue banks teetering on the edge of insolvency.

Bank losses from the write-offs of bad loans and faulty derivatives add up to $1.5 trillion so far. Additionally, regulators are forcing banks to account for $5 trillion to $10 trillion worth of off-balance-sheet structured investment vehicles.

Given that banking rules require banks to keep assets on hand equal to 10% of those funds, banks will need as much as $1 trillion in the next year. Adding $1.5 trillion in losses means banks will need as much as $2.5 trillion in new capital to remain solvent under current rules.