And Wall Street, basically having learned absolutely nothing, is having itself a party:
U.S. stocks surged in the biggest two-day global rally in history as the government moved to purge banks of bad assets and crack down on investors seeking to drive down shares of financial companies.
A small consolation, but at least some people are still thinking straight...
As the U.S. government takes stronger measures to stabilize financial markets, some former Federal Reserve officials, lawmakers and Wall Street executives are saying too much has already been done.
``Every time they intervene, they do more harm than good,'' said Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital in Darien, Connecticut, a brokerage that manages $1 billion.
Critics of the rescues agree that government actions, such as those that prevented the failures of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and American International Group Inc., can't postpone the inevitable worsening of housing and financial markets. They say the bailouts by the Fed and Treasury also encourage future reckless risk-taking by investors.
