I can't tell if you agree with me or not. We're talking about the institutional systems built on top of the monetary system and our respective trust in each.

I can't tell if you agree with me or not. We're talking about the institutional systems built on top of the monetary system and our respective trust in each. You seem to say the same at the end of your comment. But I'm not claiming that the collapse of Bear Stearns was a failure of the traditional monetary system. The fact that the fed can print money at will is the reason why essentially they had it in their power to extend an emergency loan to Bear Stearns. That they chose instead to wipe out shareholders was an institutional failure. It was an institutional failure on a colossal scale - and yet clearly water off a duck's back.