The U.S. government issues loans all the time - there are dozens of active programs, and they have a shaky track record. For instance: everyone loves to shit on the
$500M loan to Solyndra, which promptly went belly-up. Around the same time, though, the US loaned $450M to Tesla, which they used to stand up with Fremont plant. Tesla
paid that loan back nine years early, with interest and a pre-payment penalty (in part to avoid having the loan convert to stock). The CHIPS Act works almost entirely via subsidies and loan guarantees - $52B worth.
But that's chump change - let's not forget about TARP: $700B in loans, direct capital injections, and purchasing toxic assets that the US Gov't rolled out to combat the 2008 financial crisis. Some of that actually turned a profit for the US taxpayer, but on the whole
the program lost about $30B. A cost, and a boatload of socialized risk, but we also avoided another Great Depression.
But nothing can compare to the Federal Housing Administration, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac: $150B in loan purchases, guarantees, and mortgage insurance
every single year. On the plus side, we have a more accessible and robust housing market. (More than it would be otherwise, I mean - I will readily admit that it doesn't feel very accessible at the moment.) I ought my first home sooner and less expensively with their help, so thank you. But the FHA also
invented redlining. And FM/FM are the very paragon of socialized risk and privatized profit.