After reading Ryan Lizza's profile of Larry Summers, Felix Salmon says that he was wrong and that the government was right to not nationalize the banks. Free Exchange tweaks:
[A]t this point, the question of whether the administration approach (both administrations) was the right one isn't all that interesting. For one thing, it's not a question we'll ever be able to resolve. And for another, even if the administration approach was the right one for the last crisis, it's clearly not the one we want to have to use the next time around. The administration approach largely came down to an acknowledgment that they simply didn't have the tools you'd want in such a situationresolution authority and enough money to cover the bank debts that needed covering.