The intermingling, in private profit-oriented businesses, of the provision of public goods or services with regular profit-seeking activities, represents an extremely unhealthy state of affairs. The public provision of private goods is a well-documented disaster. The private provision of a public good without effective regulation (especially when provision is by a complex private businesses for which the public good is but one concern among many), can be a disaster of comparable magnitude.

See also:

• The Central Bank as the Market Maker of last Resort: From lender of last resort to market maker of last resort (with Anne Sibert, 13 August 2007)
  
• Central banks as market makers of last resort 2 (August 17, 2007)
  
• A missed opportunity for the Fed (with Anne Sibert, 18 August 2007)