Arresting someone is always a good thing to do. They tried it in the Soviet Union in 1937. Worked like a charm.

I have a question though: do we arrest everyone who fail to perform, or only bankers?

For example, our county recently had to pay 16 million to the family of the guy who was killed because of a faulty traffic light. Should our county executive go to prison?

Also my train was late this morning by 40 minutes due to what they called "equipment failure". Should a person responsible for maintaining the equipment be arrested as well, or execution in front of the passengers would be a better measure here?

There's a difference between failing to perform and specifically making choices that hurt others.

If the county executive knowingly chose faulty traffic lights, yeah they should go to prison.

The bankers aren't bumfuzzled or victims of circumstance, they're just not optimizing for public good or the stability of the system, because why should they? They have no incentive to. If shit goes sideways, they'll just get bailed out.

So how do we change the incentives? Not sure personal liability is the answer, but it's not the worst idea in at least some cases. (Though in this specific case, as much as I even understand what's going on, the answer is probably just standard regulation on the banks themselves)

> The bankers aren't bumfuzzled or victims of circumstance, they're just not optimizing for public good or the stability of the system

Even with all the nonidealities of the USA financial system, it is still pretty darn stable. If you've visit other parts of the world, it is apparent that the USA financial system (and political system, notwithstanding media reports) is among the most stable in the world. This is why companies around the world seek financing in the USA and want to float their shares on NYSE and NASDAQ.

Is there room for improvement? Absolutely.

It’s stable until it’s not.

Lots of countries arrest people...the us tried to arrest its way out of the "drug crisis"

Your example would be more meaningful if there wasn't such a strong history of demonstrable and unpunished malfeasance by bank executives.

The county executive likely didn't select design or program the light....and the victims family did find justice. Your examples don't strike even a passing resemblence to what the op said. They are borderline strawmen.

We should talk bugs and vulnerabilities. There won’t be enough prisons.

> Holding people accountable for their acts of gross negligence for personal profit is a Soviet Union thing

It's not clear to me if you're trying to defend the Soviet Union or if you're invoking a Stalin flavored Godwin's Law or if you're straw-manning super hard.