Our government officials decided long ago that the government would actively prop up the financial sector. The Federal Reserve, our bankruptcy laws, our tax code, the FDIC, Fannie & Freddie — these are all positive government efforts to promote financial institutions. More obviously, Savings & Loans bailout, Bear Stearns bailout, the AIG bailout, the Fannie & Freddie bailout, and TARP were all part of that same project.

I understand why so many people believe we need to prop up big financial institutions, but I’m pretty unconvinced. For one thing, we can have finance without these large intermediaries.