Originally Posted by sperbonzo

Only with the government acting as a full partner in the banks activities. By itself, a bank that tries to pull hyper-risky behaviour can't do much, since the free market will kill it off rather quickly without government protection. It should read, "Give a man a bank, and government officials that will regulate his competition out of existance, and then help him to offset his risks through government agencies, and then when all else fails, bail him out with tax payer money, can rob the world."