On Friday, we posted a graphic putting the flurry of recent government bailouts in perspective. Since then, of course, the Bush administration has proposed the biggest bailout in U.S. history -- a bailout larger than all the prior bailouts combined.
Together with the total of $315 billion the government put forward earlier this year to engineer the bailouts of Bear Stearns, AIG and Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the administration’s new plan brings the potential price tag of the current subprime crisis up to $1.015 trillion. The total for all U.S. government bailouts predating this year, by comparison, is $347.5 billion.
After the jump is our updated chart -- and graphic -- showing the history of U.S. government bailouts, calculated in 2008 dollars.