Banking should be rather like an old-style utility—something so essential to all of us that it should be regulated like electricity used to be before the preposterous experiment with utility deregulation. And if the government is bailing out and nationalizing banks and other financial intermediaries, why not keep some of them in the public sector? Why not use them to fund real economic development in neighborhoods starved for capital? Why not extend low-cost financial services to poor people who are now fleeced by check-cashing services and payday lenders?