I’ve seen this in New York Times. Should there be government intervention in times of recession? A lot of people during this financial crisis have had their debt load greatly affected, and not just the super wealthy. However, if there were to be free government intervention in the form of debt alleviation to the citizens, it would flow straight back to the top, which won't reinvest it, or create new industries, and will instead pocket it. It's been suggested that government debt aid should be as minimal and cost effective as possible – if the TARP program had been spent on the people, rather than banks, each working taxpayer would have gotten almost $10,000. The debate over government intervention for debt relief is too complex to settle easily.