In normal times we have the bankruptcy courts to facilitate an orderly wind down and prevent fire sales. Its called the automatic stay, it prevents creditors fr

In normal times we have the bankruptcy courts to facilitate an orderly wind down and prevent fire sales. Its called the automatic stay, it prevents creditors from taking any action against a company in the zone of insolvency to seize assets, restrict credit or in any way gain a first mover advantage. In a crisis of the current scale, the normal system can not handle the volume of bankruptcies. I would be ok with the government buying companies to preserve value but most American leaders are morally opposed to this type of intervention so it is basically impossible to do what you're suggesting.