There goes civilisation...

It is the taxpayers money that the government is using to bail out these institutions. Just like its the investors (e.g. bank customers)money that is funding the bail out fund that has just been set up by a conglomerate of 10 or so global financial institutions.

Granted, without bailing certain institutions out (freddie mac, fannie mae, and that first one i cant quite recall the name of) the global economy would be much worse off than it currently is due to these institutions being so entrenched in the financial market.

The first one was Bear Sterns.

If it's any consolation, the Fed refused to bail Lehman out. The markets are in turmoil because of it, but I support the decision, hopefully it'll scare everybody into behaving.