During 2009, the U.S. government took unprecedented steps in providing financial support to the “Big Three” large automobile manufacturers, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. All three companies were in severe financial trouble. The rationale for the bailout was genuine concerns about a domino-effect collapse of the U.S. economy and financial markets that could have been triggered by the fall of the domestic auto industry. What type of risk was the U.S. government attempting to mitigate with this action?

Question

During 2009, the U.S. government took unprecedented steps in providing financial support to the “Big Three” large automobile manufacturers, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler.  All three companies were in severe financial trouble.  The rationale for the bailout was genuine concerns about a domino-effect collapse of the U.S. economy and financial markets that could have been triggered by the fall of the domestic auto industry. What type of risk was the U.S. government attempting to mitigate with this action?

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

The question describes the U.S. government's actions in 2009 to support the Big Three automakers to prevent a domino effect that could destabilize the broader economy and financial markets. This frames the problem as a risk to the entire system, not just to one company.
Option 1: 'Specific risk' refers to risk that affects a single asset or a small group of assets due to idiosyncratic factors. If the auto manufacturers failed, only those firms or their direct stakeholders would be impacted, not the entire economy. So this does not capture the broad, system-wide concern described.
Option 2: 'Systemic risk' denotes the risk that the failure of one institution or sector could trigger widespread instability across the financial system and economy. This aligns with the bailout justification: preventing a cascade that could threaten financial markets and overall economic health.
Option 3: 'Systematic risk' (more commonly used as 'systematic risk' or 'market risk') refers to risk inherent to the entire market or economy from factors that affect all assets to some extent, such as interest rate changes or recession. While related, the scenario emphasizes interlinked stability of the financial system itself, not just broad market movements, so 'systematic risk' is a less precise label in this context.
Option 4: 'Market risk' is the risk of losses due to overall market movements. This is a broad term often used in portfolio management; it does not specifically capture the notion of a threat to the entire financial system or economy from the failure of a major industry.
In this context, the government’s objective was to mitigate a threat to the financial system as a whole and to avoid a cascading failure across markets, which is best described by systemic risk. The other options describe more narrowly scoped or different concepts that do not fit the described scenario as precisely.

ERMCPS5250_005_2025_1 - EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDER REQUIREMENTS Quiz 3

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