This is a good point again, in the same line of reasoning as the Social Capital commentator. If we don't allow businesses to fail now and again, there's never

This is a good point again, in the same line of reasoning as the Social Capital commentator. If we don't allow businesses to fail now and again, there's never an opportunity for young people. Everything will always cost too much to be able to afford doing something on your own. Case in point is myself. Shortly after uni, I worked for a hedge fund that grew to a billion dollars. The boss took a huge bet that went wrong during the GFC, and I ended up starting a new firm with a few other guys, using what I'd learned as well as the reputation (it wasn't the same kind of trading) to a new place, giving me a much bigger stake. If the boss hadn't screwed up, I'd still be an underling, the opportunity cost of leaving would keep it that way. A similar story can be made for non-labour assets. I'm sure there's some smart operators in the airline industry with some ideas about how to run an airline business. But if we bail out the airlines, he can't buy the planes/landing slots cheaply, and most of the staff will correctly guess that their jobs are safer with the old airlines. And they will be around to compete with Airline 2.0. Same in every other business, from mom and pop restaurants to investment banks. The forest fire is an opportunity for saplings.