This is how Tarp ought to work. The Treasury secretary should begin by asking the banking supervisors to produce an estimate for each bank, how much additional capital they would need to meet the statutory requirement of 8 per cent. The supervisors are familiar with the banks and are aggressively examining and gathering information. They would be able to come up with an estimate in short order provided they are given clear instructions on what assumptions to use. The estimates would be reasonably reliable for the smaller, simpler institutions, but the likes of Citibank and Goldman Sachs would require some guesswork.
以下谈谈问题资产救助计划应如何实施的问题。保尔森应从要求银行业监管机构提供各银行估算数据着手，弄清楚它们需要多少额外的资本金，才能达到法定8%的资本金充足率要求。监管机构对这些银行的情况较为熟悉，正积极审核并收集信息。如果得到有关使用何种假设的明确指令，银行业监管机构将能够在短时间内提供估测数据。对规模较小、较为简单的金融机构的估测数据将较为可靠，而对花旗银行(Citibank)和高盛(Goldman Sachs)等机构，则需要一些臆测。