What studies? Who conducted them? Where are they published?
"the govt could have simply sent the money straight to home owners"
"Simply"! The US government doesn't hold records of every mortgage in the US. How would they know who to send money too? How would they decide which borrower's needed the help, which ones didn't need help, and which ones were beyond help? Did the US government have appropriately staff in sufficient numbers to process tens of millions of potential recipients of government mortgage aid? Was such government aid politically feasible in the first place?
The banks didn't get "free trillions". If the TARP money was such a good deal, why did the banks pay it back as fast as they could? The banks had to hand over bonds in exchange for QE money, so it was hardly "free". The $300 billion in interest income they gave up over the following seven years was just a blow on the bruise.
I am an ex-banker and I doesn't own banks shares for very good reasons. Banks are more like whipping boys than privileged insiders.
