Who Needs Warren Buffet?

Has it occurred to anyone else that if Lehman, Goldman, Morgan Stanley etc. were to disappear in a poof of white smoke, maybe it really won't matter to anyone besides their shareholders and employees? It's been a long time since I've noticed any investment banker who actually added value to any deal in which he was involved (yes, they're all he's). These guys are so wrapped up in their castles-made-of-sand derivatives that the only books being wiped clean are their own. There is of course the issue of the massive sudden disruption to the markets, but that will get sorted out in the end.

In other news, the United States of America is about to invest several trillion dollars in buying up assets for pennies on the dollar that will inevitably be worth more than they are today. I'm in the let-them-burn camp myself, but let's hear an exclamation of awe for the greatest value investor in history: the federal government.