Barney Frank, the influential chairman of the House financial services committee, told the New York Times: "This is one more affirmation that the lack of regulation has caused serious problems. That the private market screwed itself up and they need the government to come help them unscrew it."
As I said before:
Early twentieth century: Fed cuts rates, causes stock market bubble of the roaring twenties, bubble bursts, renowned power brokerage Roosevelt, Hitler, Stalin & Co. claims capitalism has failed and needs to be saved and/or replaced by their plans advertised as "The New Deal," "Fascism," and "Communism."
Early twentieth-first century: Government forces lenders to lower lending standards, causes housing bubble, which bursts into subprime mortgage crisis, big government moon bats claim the free market has failed and needs more government regulation.
Am I saying that American International should have been allowed to fail? No way.
But it should not have been bailed out with taxpayer money. The money should have come out of the personal fortunes of Bush, Bernanke, Frank, and all those politicians and bureaucrats who are responsible for the existence of the Fed and for trying to micromanage and regulate (read: centrally plan) the economy.
If, for instance, a central bank arrogates itself the power to regulate the money supply, those responsible for the central bank should be held responsible for the actions of said central bank, including a too high or too low money supply distorting markets, and any bubbles and bankruptcies resulting from that. Of course, those monies should have been taken from said culprits as simple damages, without giving them any AIG shares.
Lesson: The Moscow communists could not centrally plan the economy of the Soviet Union, Washington cannot micromanage the US economy, and the Fed cannot replace banks and the free financial markets in supplying money.
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