arbiter
JournalsAccount

A Tale of Two Bailouts and Their Impact on Subprime Consumer Debt

Allen N. Berger et al.

Journal of Money, Credit and Banking2026https://doi.org/10.1111/jmcb.70010article
AJG 4ABDC A*
Weight
0.50

Abstract

We address how different restrictions or “strings” attached to the usage of government aid distributed through banks during crises affect subprime consumer debt. Leveraging quasi‐natural experiments, we compare Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), characterized by limits on executive and shareholder compensation but no strings attached to lending with the highly restrictive Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan requirements but no limits on executives and shareholders. We evaluate the programs’ impacts on millions of consumer debt observations from the Consumer Credit Panel. Results indicate that the PPP funds significantly reduced debt for subprime borrowers, primarily through income shock mechanisms, compared to additional debt through credit shocks under TARP.

Open via your library →

Cite this paper

https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/jmcb.70010

Or copy a formatted citation

@article{allen2026,
  title        = {{A Tale of Two Bailouts and Their Impact on Subprime Consumer Debt}},
  author       = {Allen N. Berger et al.},
  journal      = {Journal of Money, Credit and Banking},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/jmcb.70010},
}

Paste directly into BibTeX, Zotero, or your reference manager.

Flag this paper

A Tale of Two Bailouts and Their Impact on Subprime Consumer Debt

Flags are reviewed by the Arbiter methodology team within 5 business days.

Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.