Unregulated Capitalism creates an endless cycle of "boom and bust." We're in a "bust" phase at the present. Capitalism does function reasonably well if the proper government regulations are in place. That way, it's possible to have the best of both worlds.

The Fifties and Sixties (despite the social unrest), and somewhat beyond were relatively prosperous times for the United States. This was the legacy of the regulations instituted by the Roosevelt administration in the Thirties. But—business (although doing quite well, thank you) fretted and fussed under these regulations, and by a campaign of lobbying, buying "ethically challenged" politicians, and bankrolling the elections of anti-regulation politicians, they chipped away at them. Their big break came with the Reagan administration. It was pushed along by the administration of Bush the First. Bush the Second managed, if not to obliterate the regulations entirely, to see that they were ignored.

Et voila!!

How do you like your Capitalism now that it's essentially unregulated?

Don Firth