To what degree should we worry about moral hazard as governments around the world prepare bailouts?

Question is quite simple, many people expect a deeper and more prolonged recession than in 2008 now, and the Fed has already taken unprecedented steps in providing liquidity to capital markets. But really more countries than just the US have executed huge bailouts with potentially 18-24 months more of such activity. Before the COVID19 we were all talking about the resilience of the US consumer propping up anemic global growth, in the absence of that - perhaps for a while - is there any real possibility here of creating zombie industries, encouraging behavior like the airlines’ stock buyback program post 08 (could be something else come next recession), and weaponizing international commerce as more of these companies find themselves increasingly indebted to tax payers and constrained by populist sentiment at home? Do these concerns even matter long term in the context of a normal/prolonged business cycle if an outbreak like this is considered a hundred-year event?

Moral hazard’s possible implications seem to be a more accepted and less talked about part of these bailouts than in 2008, so I was curious to hear thoughts on the probability and magnitude of these concerns.

1 Comments
 

Qui placeat necessitatibus laudantium adipisci minima. Veritatis quas sit non et ut recusandae. Consequuntur laboriosam nostrum id adipisci neque quia ut.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Private Equity

  • The Riverside Company 99.6%
  • Blackstone Group 99.2%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 98.9%
  • Warburg Pincus 98.5%
  • Vista Equity Partners 98.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Private Equity

  • Blackstone Group 99.6%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 99.2%
  • The Riverside Company 98.9%
  • Ardian 98.5%
  • Warburg Pincus 98.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Private Equity

  • Bain Capital 99.6%
  • The Riverside Company 99.2%
  • Blackstone Group 98.9%
  • Starwood Capital Group 98.5%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 98.1%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Private Equity

  • Principal (9) $653
  • Director/MD (24) $547
  • Vice President (99) $363
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (105) $280
  • 2nd Year Associate (235) $272
  • 1st Year Associate (411) $231
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (33) $157
  • 2nd Year Analyst (97) $134
  • 1st Year Analyst (272) $124
  • Intern/Summer Associate (38) $81
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (355) $61
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”