The financial crisis has been going on for a few years now and while most people believe that we are past the worst of it there is still a long way to go. There are various means of getting out of the financial crisis, the question is whether or not we are willing to do them?

The most important thing that has to happen in order to get out of the financial crisis is that we have to get the credit markets working properly again. Unless businesses are able to borrow money they will never be able to increase their production and bring employees back to work. The problem is that to this it will be necessary to recapitalize the banks. That means the government is going to have to give money to the same banks whose reckless lending created the problem in the first place. This is a tough sell politically but it has to happen. It has already happened to a limited extent but most of that money was used simply to keep the banks afloat, they will need more money if they are going to be able to lend it out.

A big part of the reason that we got into the financial crisis in the first place was that there was an almost total lack of regulatory control over the banks. They were making very risky loans and then bundling them to sell to unwary investors and the government simply sat back and watched it happen. Clearly it will be necessary to put stricter regulations on the banks and ensure that they are enforced. This will not only help to ensure that the same thing doesn't happen again in the future but will also help to increase investor confidence. Oddly this has met with a great deal of political resistance as well.

In order to get out of the financial crisis it is also going to be necessary to stop all of the foreclosures that have been occurring. As long as they continue the economy will never get back on a strong footing. The best way to do this is change the bankruptcy laws so that it is easier to reorganize debt into something that is manageable for the homeowner.

The last thing that needs to happen to get out of the financial crisis is to get people back to work and get business leaders making business work again. This is another area that is proving to be a challenge politically. The government wants to pursue a policy of reducing taxes in the hopes that this will encourage businesses to grow and take on more staff. So far this approach hasn't worked. Clearly the government is going to have to spend money itself to create jobs. There are lots of opportunities to do this as there is a lot of infrastructure that needs to be upgraded. That being said between the governments large deficit and the political opposition to this kind of approach it is unlikely to happen.