TO BIG TO FAIL

Washington has overlooked and continues to ignore the part the failure to enforce U.S. Anti-Trust laws [ 15 U.S.C. 1 et.seq. ] has played in the economic collapse ( current recession/depression ) of the U.S. and the collateral damage it has caused to the world community. As far back as 1890 [ Sherman Act ] it was recognized that a company or corporation could grow to a point of suffocating free markets. Since the 1960's Washington has been a rudderless ship when it comes to preventing acquisitions and mergers that tend to create monopolies that stifle free markets; and, this failure has lead to the creation of the " TO BIG TO FAIL " now U.S. Government/Taxpayer bail out of the likes of AIG, Wall-Street, Big Banks and G.M. U.S. politics and ideological differences prevented the U.S. from vigorously enforcing Anti-Trust laws long on the books. Main-street U.S.A. and the average Joe & Jane of other nations have paid the price of U.S. Government lethargy.

Had Washington enforced anti-trust laws long on the books [ Sherman Act 1890;Clayton Act 1914 ] AIG, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, CityBank etc. would never have grown to the size that would imperil the U.S. "TO BIG TO FAIL" taxpayer bail-out would never have come into play. Fingers continue to point to the U.S. housing bubble, and sub-prime mortgage collapse as the cause of the current economic crisis. These were indeed factors and the probable trigger for the current crisis. However, had the U.S. anti-trust laws been vigorously enforced mega-banks (Bank of America ) and mega insurance and financial institutions (AIG, Goldman Sachs, etc. ) would never have achieved the size and dominance to significantly impact the U.S. and world economies. Size does matter, bigger is not better; by containing the size of institutions, not only is competition enhanced, but the failure of a single institution will not cause market collapse.

There is entirely too much outside political influence in Washington ( lobbyists, PAC's, etc. ) for the U.S. to function except at a remedial level, far below what is required to effectively be a leader in today's world.