The wealth gap in America has accelerated the last 10 years. The middle class is getting weaker and smaller.The rich have gobbled up larger share of the wealth. You have to judge by what has is in place for us. Take a look at Detroit and see the cities of our future. We have abandoned the industries that were responsible for the middle class. These industries supported many small businesses, They are going down fast.
There isn’t anything meaningful to debate here. Every economy needs a functioning banking system (pretty much by definition). The US economy doesn’t need Chrysler or GM to make cars. Even the US automobile industry barely needs Chrysler or GM! And even if it did, the US government can’t do much to “support” failed manufacturers, without ruining the rest of the economy. Whereas the US government has to support those failed banks which are central to the US economy to prevent the rest of the US economy being destroyed.
You can argue about some of the nuances, but basically, banking is essential, and each manufacturing company is disposable. Sorry.
An honest banking system would be nice but the one we have brought the world economy to its knees. The auto industry did not. But in the long run we will pay for letting industry die. America will no longer be on the cutting edge of science and industry.We will be Mexico. We will have incredibly wealthy people dictating the path America follows. We have that now but the wealth of the middle class had a bit of counterbalancing effect. The future looks grim. Banks are partially responsible for the failure of the auto industry. We need to toss out the thieves ,open the books and fix the banks. We have to reestablish regulation and cut the political influence of big money.