you might start with analysing exactly WHY the government is providing a safety net here. there are many reason, but the focus would be on building a market that is resilient enough to correct such problems on its own. the problem isn't necessarily Bears Stearn (in my IMH uninformed O), but the state of the market in general. Of course Bears Stearn come down because of a cancer in that industry that many had, but there are so many other pressures on the market as well (the weak dollar, the debt, the war, oil prices, etc)