<snip> If anything, the economists fault the bailout for not targeting consumers more directly,

Well, I can speak with authority on this subject, in our country they did target the consumers directly with the stimulus, and now what do we have to show of it, absolutely NOTHING, except a large debt that will take decades to repay.

Australia went into the GFC in probably the best condition of any country in the world, no debt and large budget surpluses and in less than 3 years the country is screwed.

In the last few weeks public sentiment has swung against the government as the punters have woken up to what the idiots have done.