It would seem it's actually government policy, not "market failure", which is the root cause of the current financial chaos. Color me completely unsurprised. Just about every large-scale "social engineering" attempt by Democrats starts out well-meaning, and usually works for a brief time. Unfortunately, and inevitably, the wheels fall off in spectacular fashion when all the other incentives their policies create come home to roost. Come to think of it, I can't think of a single instance where this didn't happen, all the way back to the New Deal. Those who can are welcome to comment.

"I am in favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it's possible. "
-- Milton Friedman

Everyone sees these things happen, yet most of you still persist in believing, "if only we could create the right program, and actually allow it to be fully funded by taxing all those billionaires and corporations out there a little more, by golly we'd get our government to do something right for a change."

I'd like to think it's not possible to hold a belief founded on so many false assumptions at once.

I would, of course, be wrong.