Government bailouts total an estimated $8.5 trillion

According to media reports, various estimates of federal bailouts, equity buys into banks and investment houses, liquidity infusions by the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, loan guarantees and economic stimulus checks now total $8.5 trillion. That amount is about 60 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product, which economists estimate at approximately $14 trillion.

The $8.5 trillion total in bailouts equals almost twice the annual GDP of Japan. It is more than the annual GDP of every national economy except the U.S., European Union and China.

The $8.5 trillion does not include a requested bailout of the U.S. automobile industry. The total does include:

> The $700 billion bank and Wall Street bailout, including federal equity buys into Bank of America Corp., JP Morgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and other financial institutions

• Federal takeovers of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
• Bailouts of Citigroup and American International Group
• Cash infusions into financial and lending markets by the Fed