The crisis may be turning out very well for many of the behemoths that dominate U.S. finance. A series of federally arranged mergers safely landed troubled banks on the decks of more stable firms. And it allowed the survivors to emerge from the turmoil with strengthened market positions, giving them even greater control over consumer lending and more potential to profit.

Now that's a sweet deal - boost your market share in originating what are essentially "no-risk" loans because, either wards of the state Fannie Mae and FreddieMac will buy the loans or you'll get bailed out if things again go awry.

"No, we shouldn't be celebrating this...banks are too important to be bailed out," Tamny says. "Big surprise that the government got some of its money back saving banks that should have been allowed to die. There's going to be a natural return there, but it shouldn't have happened."

Instead of letting capitalism run it's course, Tamny notes we've entered a vicious cycle of baiilout's unintended consequences. Exhibit A: Banks deemed "too big to fail" have in fact grown larger and even more interconnected,