The bailout of the financial system, which began about a year ago, was conceived in sin. It would have been wholly unnecessary if highly paid executives in the financial sector--the people who had the most to benefit from the system's survival--had met minimal standards of competence and self-preservation. It's been an expensive debacle, especially for taxpayers, who are being forced to shoulder hundreds of billions of dollars in costs. In a more just world, the banks and Wall Street firms would pay the entire cost of their own bailout through higher taxes, or fees, or industry insurance funds.

It may be cold comfort, but the final cost of some programs is likely to be much less than anticipated. The government is getting decent returns on the TARP's capital repurchase program. And now it turns out that the bailed-out banks are also defraying a small fraction by paying fees to the government. In exchange for the huge gift of guaranteeing money-market funds, commercial paper, and other bank assets, the Fed, the Treasury, and the FDIC have charged fees to the participating companies. Call it balance-sheet rental. Thus far, we've collected several billion dollars in fees without having to make any payments.

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