Oh yes and one thing I forgot to mention is that our £50b bail out package (named by the media) means that the Government will effectively become shareholders of the recipient companies. If dividends then become payable, the Government then has first rights over them. This is with the view that eventually the Government will reclaim their money and that no more banks will become nationalised.
Is that similar to how the Fed will invest?
For banks, I believe it's similar. In fact, I think they cite the UK deal as the model. As for the direct lending to corporations, I haven't seen enough detail to know, but I doubt the US will take an equity stake in non-financial firms.
