Brazilian President Lula da Silva Says the U.S. Is Failing Its Leadership Role in the Global Financial Crisis - WSJ.com

"There is no small irony in the fact that the socialist president of Brazil is now smarting from too much government intervention in the U.S. Had financial institutions been told months ago that rescue is not an option, things would be different. Instead of waiting for the Treasury, they might have begun deconstructing bundled assets to figure out their worth and how to raise new capital. Allowing illiquid assets to be priced using cash-flow analysis for regulatory purposes months ago would have helped too. The government could even have acted as lender of last resort, with stipulations on dividends until the loans were repurchased."