Contents: A brief history of bailouts -- The creation of the Federal Reserve, and its role in creating our bailout nation -- Pre-bailout nation : (1860-1942) -- Industrial-era bailouts (1971-1995) -- Stock market bailouts, 1987-1995 -- The irrational exuberance era (1996-1999) -- The tech wreck, 2000-2003 -- The backwards, rate-driven economy -- The mad scramble for yield -- The machinery of subprime -- A memo found in the street : Uncle Sam the enabler.