I am a believer in small government, not an anarchist.

The police, as far as matters of economics go, are essentially not even a factor. The police are best suited for criminal matters, not civil.

As for the courts, their role is also civil – settling contract disputes between individuals. But because the government owns the court, a clear conflict of interest exists when it also owns the defendant, which is the situation we’re facing.

Ditto with the regulators. How can anybody seriously believe that regulators can possibly do their job properly now that the government has a vested financial interest in the firm? Think about how hard the Congress fought any Fannie / Freddie actions – and they weren’t even investing in it then. How much worse will it be when they think “their” stock price might be damaged by an allegation of financial mismanagement?

Indya, If credit is so hard to come by, why aren’t interest rates sky rocketing?

Oh that’s right – this isn’t a free market.

So police forces and courts are bad? And presumably intellectual property law is bad as well?

There is no question that the market will fix itself. The market always fixes itself.

And there is no question that government intervention in the market is bad. It is always bad. If the plan wasn’t bad, Paulson wouldn’t have made participation mandatory.

As a random example, consider the “Harley Staggers Express,” an expensive Amtrak train from DC to West Virginia, named for the influential Congressman who pressed Amtrak into maintaining it beyond all economic reason.

ooooh scary. If I believed it I guess. Maybe the government won’t do all the things he says they ‘will’ do. Sounds like someone trying to scare me into letting the ‘free market’ fix itself.