In the capitalist American economy, markets pick winners, and the federal government typically stays out of the way of business. But during times of crisis or war, the government has occasionally felt the need to step in.

During World War I and II, it seized rail and telegraph networks, and nationalized industries, like coal mining, when strikes threatened the war effort.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, established in the wake of the Great Depression, has since taken over — and wound down — failing American banks with an eye towards protecting depositors and keeping the economy stable.

And when companies deemed "too big to fail," including insurer AIG and automakers Chrysler and General Motors , teetered on the brink of collapse during the Great Financial Crisis of 2007-09, the

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