Prehaps they all benefited, but it seems as if the bailouts benefited the most irresponsible people far more than the rest of society.
The banks should have been allowed to fail. The only reason capitalism works is by providing a huge incentive to do things right. Bailouts like these will convince companies they can get away with the same thing in the future.
People talk as if shareholders in companies like AIG and Citi escape scot free. Citi is down 93% and AIG is down 98%.
The point was that you didn't have a domino effect that took down the whole world economy (no industry that is bigger than a corner store can function without a banking system). Throwing out the baby with the bathwater just so you can punish some people is counterproductive.
The banks should have been allowed to fail. The only reason capitalism works is by providing a huge incentive to do things right. Bailouts like these will convince companies they can get away with the same thing in the future.