2008's Financial Winner's and Losers

Taxpayer Questions

U.S. taxpayers are either big losers or winners in 2008, all depending on your perspective. Congress passed a $700 billion bailout plan called the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP. It was originally supposed to buy the banks' bad mortgage investments, but has since been used for a wide range of bailouts.

Insurance giant American International Group, or AIG, got $40 billion from TARP. And most recently, General Motors and Chrysler got a short-term loan from the program.

Many homeowners have asked where their own bailout is, saying that Washington has focused too much on Wall Street and corporate America. Another group says that the taxpayers might ultimately win when the economy recovers, having bought shares in all these bailed-out companies at a discount.

Automakers on the Skids

General Motors, Chrysler and Ford all had a bad year. First, the Big Three automakers were hit with record gas prices. Americans abandoned their gas-guzzling SUVs and pickup trucks -- the bread and butter of the Big Three -- for small, more fuel-efficient cars.

Then, just as gas prices started to fall, consumer credit lines tightened and many would-be buyers found themselves unable to get a loan for that new car. The Big Three have turned to the government for help. Lawmakers and President Bush at first rebuffed the automakers, but ultimately GM and Chrysler -- the two automakers in the most precarious situation -- got an emergency loan.

The fate of the Big Three ultimately will fall to President-elect Obama and the new Congress.

But the American companies aren't alone. Even foreign automakers are feeling the pain. Japanese automaker Toyota announced Monday that it expects to post its first operating loss in 70 years.