November 17, 2011 12:48PM # Demos vs. Cato: Say No to Bailouts By Zach Graves --- SHARE Over at [PolicyMic](http://www.policymic.com/article/show/id/2449/op/no), Cato scholar [Daniel J. Mitchell](https://www.cato.org/people/daniel-mitchell) debates Demos co-founder [David Callahan](http://www.demos.org/david-callahan) on whether massive government bailouts saved us from a second Great Depression, or plunged the economy into a prolonged recession that hurt taxpayers and undermined the self-corrective mechanisms of the market. Mitchell argues: > The Bush-Obama policies of bailouts and regulation have been bad for taxpayers, but they’ve also been bad for the economy. > > > A vibrant and dynamic economy requires the possibility of big profits, but also the discipline of failure. Indeed, [capitalism without bankruptcy is like religion without hell](http://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/2011/10/17/capitalism-without-bankruptcy-is-like-religion-without-hell/). > > > Yet that’s what politicians from both parties have created. Profits are private and losses are socialized, so is anyone surprised that Wall Street responds to these incentives with imprudent risk? Read Mitchell’s post [here](http://www.policymic.com/article/show/id/2449/op/no), and the other side [here](http://www.policymic.com/group/showCompetition/id/2445). ##### Related Tags [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Regulation](https://www.cato.org/regulatory-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).