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The Multinational Monitor has this item –

The Nationalization Option: Considering a Government Takeover of Citigroup

by Robert Weissman

Citigroup is among the world’s largest financial institutions. As of July, it is also one-third owned by the U.S. government. Without the various subsidies and guarantees — totaling hundreds of billions of dollars — made available to Citigroup, it is very likely the bank would be insolvent. Many believe that — even with the government supports — with an honest accounting, it would be insolvent today. In the case of the failure of Citigroup, it would be taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) which has a long record of “resolving” failed banks — albeit not banks of the size and reach of Citi.

The existing government stake in Citi, and the lingering prospect that the government might have to up its control share still further, raise the questions: Should the government exercise its ownership powers? And if so, how?

In the government-managed bankruptcies of General Motors and Chrysler — which has made the government the majority shareholder in GM — the Obama administration has explicitly adopted the position that it will act only as a business investor would. It has advanced this principle with regard to other ownership positions acquired in major businesses amidst the financial crisis. In this framework, the government is either a passive investor, or interested only in the return to profitability of the companies in which it holds an ownership stake. . . (more)

http://www.multinationalmonitor.org/mm2009/052009/weissman.html