While I generally agree with your comments, I still think it's absurd to have such high interest rates. What's really ironic is that the bailouts were payed with taxpayer money - they shouldn't be printing money but taxpayers should reap the benefits of the investment - directly, not "supposedly" just because the state earned it. I'm not an Is citizen, but I feel the US is much more person-centric than Europe thus the responsibility is on the individual. In Europe we expect certain things from the state, namely not to turn education and health into a private business.