Describe the history of the U.S. government as to industries in distress

The U.S. government has a long history of stepping in to rescue industries in distress. In 1971, the Lockheed Corporation received $250 million in loan guarantees from Congress. In 1976, the federal government merged seven failing Northeast railroads and then spent about $7 billion keeping the combined entity afloat. In 1979, the Chrysler Corporation received up to $1.5 billion in loan guarantees. And in 1989, Congress closed more than 1,000 S&Ls at a cost of $124 billion. Some of these interventions were successful (Chrysler paid off its loan 7 years early), while others were failures (When Lockheed executives were discovered to have paid foreign bribes, the government removed them, and closely scrutinized Lockheed activities thereafter).