3—Politicians love to tell us America is the standard bearer of freedom and human rights in the world. So why is our entire well being as a people dependent on a financial system in which it is difficult to determine the difference between bad judgment and policies based on ambition and greed?

Yesterday, Ben Bernanke, Chair of the Federal Reserve during the 2008 financial crisis, was talking to Charlie Rose about those dark days when it seemed that our entire financial system might collapse.
Well, actually, he was pushing his new book, The Courage to Act.

Ben told Charlie how he, Hank Paulson, and Timothy Geithner worked to save Wall Street in order to save Main Street. Hank apparently regrets his inability to convey this noble goal more clearly to those of us who remain resentful of the massive bailout that has enabled financial firms to continue their malpractice.

Ben stressed the fact that had the financial system failed, it would have taken the world with it. No doubt.

When Charlie asked Ben about his statement that someone should have gone to jail, the savior of the financial system insisted he never said that. What he did say—he explained in carefully and haltingly chosen words—was that it would have perhaps been a good idea if more investigation had been done to determine if people made bad judgments or behaved with criminal intent. It's a fine line, he said.

Really?
Or more specifically, Ben, I thought America is the standard bearer of freedom and human rights in the world. So why is our entire well being as a people dependent on a financial system in which it is difficult to determine the difference between bad judgment and policies based on ambition and greed?