The Role of the Government in a Free Market

The involvement of the central government in the financial markets is a controversial issue, as Sorkin describes in his book. At one side of the argument are those who advocate a completely "free" market in which the government takes little or no role. On the other end of the spectrum are socialist or communist countries where the government controls the economy, or owns key sectors of industry. The United States regulates the financial industry, but traditionally has maintained a free market economy where the government does not directly own financial institutions.

This changed in 2008, Sorkin explains, when the TARP legislation invested hundreds of billions of dollars in financial institutions making the US Government and American taxpayers part owners of the top firms on Wall Street. This program, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush, was highly controversial...