Here is an interesting article that begins “How do we protect the markets from their own overexuberance? By signaling that future failures won’t get government bailouts.” I think he gets the framework of the solution right, but not the details, which is interesting in its own right. The market will not be helped by a government that sees its role as preventing all problems in the market. The market is a decentralized and messy thing, there will be downsides sometimes for some people. But clearly we have reached a place of inadequate transparency and inadequate understanding of the consequences of policies and of some individual choices. If we respond in a way that strengthens the rules of the road, but keeps the government out of the market–i.e. retain capitalism, we will be better off. If we decide the governments job is to prevent us from being “harmed” by the market, we are doomed.