and what exactly was the purchasing power of that $1.2 trillion lost. I was watching NBC nightly news and they also quoted the $1.2 trillion loss and how it was 50% higher than the proposed $700 billion bailout. The people own the same % of the companies they held before it dropped, the market is just deflating to its true value.
Basically my point is, the number they pulled out and used is bullshit numbers to make it look like the bailout was a better deal and to give the taxpayers cognitive dissonance.