[AstralTraveller (David)]

Originally Posted by casstony

....the poor old taxpayer gets bled dry while the robber barrons have a giggle about how they got away with it.

Too true. During the boom times the capitalists are all laissez-faire and put it about that anyone who isn't making a killing must be a lazy good-for-nothing dolt (while ignoring the fact that we can't all make a killing at the same time). But once their system is in crisis they change their tune. They get their governments to bail them out using money the workers have paid to the government for projects that serve the common good (schools, hospitals etc). Our reward? At the best we continue to bump along while they go back to living in the lap of luxury.

Well did Garry Trudeau describe our ecenomy as "a game that privatizes profit but socializes risk".