The American government’s accidental private-credit subsidy
How a Depression-era lending scheme became a trillion-dollar wheeze
Apollo has borrowed over $15bn from the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) of Des Moines, one of 11 privately owned but government-sponsored banks. On March 25th the private-markets giant made its first appearance in an annual league table of institutions receiving FHLB loans, coming in at number seven. (JPMorgan Chase was top; five smaller banks made up the balance.)
Explore more
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Prairie subsidies”
Finance & economics
April 5th 2025- Trump takes America’s trade policies back to the 19th century
- Can the world’s free-traders withstand Trump’s attack?
- The American government’s accidental private-credit subsidy
- How Milei made Argentina deserving of an IMF bail-out
- Tin, an overlooked critical metal, is enjoying a boom
- What a refugee camp reveals about economics
From the April 5th 2025 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the edition
Can China fight America alone?
The world’s two biggest economies begin an almighty trade clash
The tariff madness of King Donald, explained
As his policy turns on a dime, pity those tasked with justifying his actions
China has a weapon that could hurt America: rare-earth exports
It has only just begun to use it
America’s financial system came close to the brink
Chaotic markets threatened to trigger a full-blown crisis
Trump’s tariff pause brings investors relief—but worries remain
Amid market panic, he backs off his most extreme “reciprocal” tariffs
Bond-market convulsions look extremely dangerous
Treasury yields and other signs of stress are flashing red