FDR closed the banks. Not even close to "socialism". In fact the events of the past week have been played out at least three other times in my lifetime and I certainly don't go back as far as FDR. This is just the RTC bailout redux. Or the Chrysler loan. Not as dranconian as Nixon wage and price controls.
The enormous subsidies for agriculture and other sector-specific tax breaks to exporters etc (conflict with WTO who deemed them illegal - then he said that ok, then we need to find other ways of giving the tax breaks). He is pretty much up there at the top ... The energy market in the US is super-regulated in comparison to Europe.
I could also add JFK's refusal in allowing U.S. Steel to hike prices in 1962 which led to a VERY nasty selloff in the Dow that summer (20% plus). In fact bro, given that this effort is probably motivated to contain risks from spreading to Federally insured depositor institutions it's the lesser of a few evils. As usual in markets there's little new under the sun which is why if one has even an iota of historical knowlege there's an edge here and there.......
LOL, Bush is no socialist, he is a committed free marketeer faced with the unpleasant fact that the free market theories work...until they don't, that deregulations and hands-off approach to the economy, business excesses and abuses lead to bubbles, disasters and meltdowns. He's learning the hard way that business if not regulated will do stupid things and hurt itself and others, that for the sake of extra-profit and immediate gratification business will make every mistake possible and sacrifice their own future, that greed affects companies exactly the same way it affects individuals making them blind stupid and vulnerable. People who are not knee-jerk free-marketeers saw this disaster coming years ago and kept warning about an imminent meltdown and potential second great depression while free marketeers kept screaming that the market would solve all problems. Well, the market did not.
As much as I hate to admit it-your thoughts are among the single best commentary ANYONE has written on this subject. You nailed it.
I'd be guilty of intellectual dis-honesty to not give you well deserved props. Your post was terrific. In particular you committed a cardinal sin of shallow media pop-analysis: you ascribed a psychological reason to events. I loved it!