We failed capitalismThe bank bailouts were a failure. They simply loaded the Government and public with debt that needs to be monetized by the Fed no to remain sustainable. Whatever calamity politicians thought they were avoiding will be that much worse when the system collapses due to a sovereign debt crisis and default. Then there will be a collapse of both public and private sectors simultaneously. Bailouts don't really matterHowever, the bigger question is what should be done following a bailout or allowance of mass failure. The key is to make sure that if/when we recover, the problem won't be repeated. This is where the US failed miserably. The bailouts should have been used with strict conditions (none of this CEO bonus crap). Secondly, the US should have re-implemented the Glassu2013Steagall Act as well as neutering the Federal Reserve as a condition for the bailouts. The Glass-Steagall Act was 37 pages long and the watered down Dodd-Frank Act is 2,319 pages. It's got a sponge-worth of loopholes and exceptions that make it practically useless. Furthermore, the government should have put in the constitution that there would never be any bailouts again. This way, a socialist bailout could be tolerable so long as capitalism was strengthened to allow failure and floating interest rates. Curtailing fractional-reserve banking would also be interesting. This would make it much harder for bubbles to form.I can't vouch for all my ideas but I am certain that by bailing out banks and letting them go on 'business as usual' with moral hazard on top is going to end badly. With the added QE-Infinity, there isn't even an exit strategy anymore.