If the government promises to buy those bad loans...
...those financial geniuses may hold back on selling them to bid the price up, or to let more of them accumulate so they can sell even more. We're talking about the boldest and most skilled financial minds of all time here, you can count on them doing something really creative.
And soon Ayn Rand and Ronald Reagan's likenesses will form from the rain-smeared pigeon droppings on the bull statue on Wall Street.