John Tamny ably explains the self-condratictions in Joseph Stiglitz’s latest attempt to blame free markets for the financial mess. His conclusion needs to be remembered by anyone who is tempted to think government might be able to help:

Stiglitz concludes by drilling down to the supposed “one” mistake that caused this crisis. To him it resulted from the “belief that markets are self-adjusting and that the role of government should be minimal.” What he misses in a column full of misses is that markets were never free to begin with, and they certainly were never allowed to adjust.
A better conclusion would be that free markets are best for wrenching capital away from the destroyers of it so that it can be placed in the hands of those who will treat it well. Put simply, in a true free market there would never be government bailouts precisely because a system of free exchange is too important to be wrecked by the blunt hand of government.

Especially when the blunt hand of government is motivated by aggrandizing self-interest.