Even in private investing, not every bet is going to work out. This energy loan program did pretty well, though.
No, of course not, but at least it is not our tax money. After the Solyndra failure and change of govt, the Dept of Energy became a little more discerning in how and to whom they gave loans. But we still can't measure the success of that, as we are in a very low interest rate environment. I don't know how they measure profit, as reported by NPR, but I am sure all the tax payer money has not been repaid yet.