To understand why the emphasis of policy must switch from punishing bank shareholders to giving them some comfort, we have only to ask why more banks keep failing despite the huge amount of public money being poured into bank “rescues”and “bailouts”. The answer is simple: the government rescues that have cost so much money have not been rescues at all. They have been more like demolitions or robberies. Governments have guaranteed bank deposits, but they have wiped out the value of bank shares. This expropriation of bank shareholders has not only put the “rescued” institutions out of business. It has sabotaged the viability of other banks, as investors dump their shares before they are “rescued” like Bradford & Bingley or AIG.