The gist of the report is that government officials made no serious attempt to extract concessions from bankers, even though these bankers received huge benefits from the rescue. And more than money was lost. By making what was in effect a multibillion-dollar gift to Wall Street, policy makers undermined their own credibility -- and put the broader economy at risk" (Krugman 2009). Many banks have given back their TARP funds, in exchange for the ability to once again engage in risky activities, to pay traders the bonuses they desire, and to pay executives what seems to be overinflated compensation. In June ten of the largest recipients of aid, including J.P. Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and American Express "paid back a total of $68 billion, a move that allowed them to stand without taxpayer dollars and operate without increased government scrutiny" ("Credit Crisis," The New York Times, 2009). Thus little accountability over the banking industry has been achieved a result of the crisis: "Government officials, perhaps influenced by spending too much time with bankers, forgot that if you want to govern effectively you have retain the trust of the people. And by treating the financial industry -- which got us into this mess in the first place -- with kid gloves, they have squandered that trust" said Nobel-prize winning economist Paul Krugman, in a September editorial for The New York Times (Krugman 2009). Although bankers are not suffering as they were in 2008, the jobless, individuals seeking loans for schools, and recent college graduates are still experiencing the effects of the downturn, and are often barely treading water. This has been a two-tiered recovery -- some sectors of the economy have rebounded better than ever before, such as first-time homeowners and car buyers enjoying the tax credits extended by the government to stimulate the housing and automotive industries. But for those on the outside looking in, the lack of job growth means that the so-called recovery is little recovery at all. Unless greater oversight is extended over banks to curtail risky speculation on a permanent basis, and real job growth is achieved through better use of government stimulus aid, it seems likely that this 'divided' recovery will continue on its divisive, parallel paths, leaving two Americas in its wake.

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