The answer to that question is a qualified no.
Regardless of what the Beltway Elite might think, we do not have to bail these companies out. If we are going to seize ownership of these companies, we have to
- Freeze all payments to executives: no golden parachutes means ZERO golden parachutes;
- Regulate: the pure free-market system clearly isn't working. We need to prevent companies from profiting off immense risk-taking and getting the taxpayers to foot the bill when these gambles end up in disaster;
- Rework the financial system: this ties in with the regulation, but follows a lot more in line with what former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich lays out here;
- Go into Keynesian mode: as a last resort, the government needs to supply the aggregate demand. We need to overhaul our transit infrastructure as it is -- upgrading roads, laying down rail for mass transit, repairing bridges, et cetera. The government can supply the demand and must if we are to weather out this financial storm.
Honestly, it feels like the free-market people honestly believe the caption of this cartoon. It makes me sad.
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