I would argue that the repeal of Glass-Steagall in itself was a government intervention, because it happened after Citi merged with Travellers, and it was based on lobbying from Citi.<p>But there were other pieces of legislation, namely the Commodities Futures Modernization Act, that had a more damaging effect.<p>The more general problem is that the market prices risk based on the underlying assumption that if anything bad happens the government(s) will step in and bail out the bad actors. The mentality leads directly to risky behavior and, in fact, induces risky behavior. If you take away that inducement, these actors will behave differently.