Vin Suprynowicz

In recent days, the federal government has stepped in to bail out mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, while the Treasury Department took a contrasting decision to stand aside and let the Lehman Brothers investment bank seek bankruptcy protection. Another longtime Wall Street institution, Merrill Lynch, announced it will accept a discounted buyout from [...]

Hundreds of years ago, banks and insurance companies — the businesses are related; both need to quantify risk — went belly-up fairly often. Folks could be left in the lurch. Most consumers probably assume that can’t happen today because of government regulation. Indeed, regulatory standards may have helped. Though it could be argued a consumer [...]