The problem is that there is no competition in banking. A bank is a private company and should be allowed to go out of business as a result of poor decisions an

The problem is that there is no competition in banking. A bank is a private company and should be allowed to go out of business as a result of poor decisions and speculation. In a true free market, there would be no bailout. What we have now is a cartel of banks with government-approved protection by central banks, a system that encourages recklessness and a money-system backed by nothing but debt. Propping it up is just delaying the inevitable and allowing the very wealthy more chances to take ownership of property and assets for bargain prices while the general public pay more through inflation of currency, commodity prices and house prices. We don't need bailouts. We need better education of the population about how private banking is in control of our economy so that it becomes clear in everyone's minds that the whole monetary system needs reform. The system as it stands is mathematically guaranteed to transfer value from the bottom to the top. This is as true for individuals as it is for countries as a whole. Cyprus will never pay off this national debt with the system as it currently stands and so will sit in the pocket of the IMF, and ultimately the US Federal Reserve. "Bailout" is one way of putting it. So is "legalised plunder".