Originally Posted by TimFreeh

In a free market system when you make is mistake you burn. That doesn't seem to happen any more.

I realize that this sometimes this means we ALL have to burn, we have been having market cycles (including recessions and depressions) for as long as there have been markets. These cycles are an essential part of the process, they serve to flush nonsense out of the system.

What we are doing today reminds me of the US Forrest service policies regarding forest fires in the 30's and 40's. At that time the "sunshine and lollypops for everybody all the time at any cost" school of thought prevailed and all forest fires were extinguished at as soon as they were found. Only after decades of this policy did the "experts" realize that forest fires were a natural part of the environment and they actually serve a beneficial function.

Same deal with recessions and even depressions.

You may not like it but its hard to argue that our free-market system hasn't been successful. We've built a standard of living that is the envy of most of the rest of the world.