[mercurial]

> You're ignoring the probability that banks would find such a a loophole. The U.S. subprime mortgage crisis was an indirect example, but allocating the majority of blame to the banks is not appropriate.

You're ignoring the fact that banks lobbied to have Glass-Steagall repealed in the first place :) In computer term, you could say they used privilege escalation to create this loophole. And considering the amount of cash NPEs make, they're probably doing whatever they can to ensure the statu quo remains.

Now, you may very well argue that they are acting rationally, and they certainly are. But they do not exist in a vacuum. They are also acting outside of a moral framework, and harming the interests of the majority. There is little difference between the mob asking asking a small business for protection money, or a patent troll getting a settlement out of a small business for an overly broad patent: in both cases, it's extortion. Why shouldn't they be vilified, just like SCO was vilified back when it had the same business model? These people add nothing of value to the world, they actually try to subtract value.

You can argue there is a problem with Congress if it allows lobbies to write laws. But it would be exactly like blaming an official for accepting an unsolicited bribe, but not the person doing the bribing (which in real life would receive the harshest punishment).