Maximum profit, the doctrine of American capitalism, has made homes unaffordable for many Americans

You could say the same for Wall St. Theoretically, the purpose of financial markets is to "efficiently allocate capital." But there were years during the Bush 2 admin when half the corporate profits in the nation were made on Wall St. That's efficient allocation of capital into their own pockets!

Capitalism assumes good and accurate knowledge of financial conditions and values of the items on the market, and sometimes of the participants as well. In the modern world, few people have that knowledge, so we hire middlemen such as brokers, and we regulate the markets as much as possible.

But others in the markets object vociferously to regulation, refer to it as "government overreach" and "socialism," and then blithely accept bailouts when market conditions are bad.

Really, it's an indictment of unfettered capitalism, a denial of any "magic of the marketplace." I don't have an easy solution; I'm just pointing out that capitalism needs to operate within constraints.


UPDATE
Offshoring is another downside of capitalism. Sure, it was great for profits for the early corporations that moved manufacturing offshore. But the ultimate result is the hollowing out of the middle class, and fewer people who can afford the goods made offshore. Good for the bottom line turned out to be awful for the nation.