Pointing out that the institutions responsible for much of this mess have also been stung misses the point. It was not "institutions" that were corrupt, it was people. These people, including such as Hank Paulson, have ended up with millions, if not tens or hundreds of millions, and don't give a rat's patoot about the status of the institutions that they supposedly served. The big problem is that shareholders, who are the real owners of the companies, no longer have an effective say in the companies. The managers, who are actually employees of the stockholders, have acted as if the companies belong to them, and are simply something for them to loot as much as they can from and walk away when the fecal matter hits the rotating blade. No matter how many companies go under, require bailing out, or are bought for pennies on the dollar, I doubt that you will see any of these crooks offer to give back one penny of the obscene salries, bonuses, and perks that they have gotten over the years for driving their company into bankruptcy. I hope they all rot in hell.

Sorry for the rant.