I am not advocating for after the fact, I'm saying this sort of crap (capitalism run amuck) is a definite problem, and it needs to end. It serves no beneficial purpose to society, not to customers, and not to workers, and frankly, I don't give a rats ass about whether some poor downtrodden millionaire fatcat will never be able to realize his dream to become a billionaire, or whether some poor downtrodden billionaire fatcat will never be able to realize his lifelong dream to become a trillionaire. I suspect society could manage to get along without more assholes like Soros or the Koch brothers. Unseemly behavior is Martha Stewart or our wonderful politicians padding their pockets with insider trading. The examples I mentioned are egregious and outrageous, and should be classed as criminal...and no doubt would, if not for the fact that we have the best politicians and justice system that (big) money can buy. As for your assertion these were illegal, I have yet to see precious little convictions, nor attempts to recover the millions (billions?) bilked.
No, let's not just get out of the way, and let these 'criminals' do whatever they want, whenever they like. I'm old enough to recall a day when competition forced the cream to rise to the top, and the dregs to sink. Now it's the exact opposite. A great bank like Washington Mutual is thrown to the wolves by its parent company (Chase, the worst bank I ever dealt with) which prospers on its carcass, and government generosity of our tax dollars. 'Too big to fail' means no control, which pretty much guarantees taxpayers get left holding the bag again sometime. Since the fatcats seem to have no self-control over greed, and wholly lacking in any sort of honor or integrity, restrictions need to be placed as to what is or is not acceptable, and exactly what naughty no-nos will earn one a time-out in prison.
Sorry, given a choice between Best Buy or some similar store I use (and thousands work at), or some hedge fund, corporate raider, or similar asshole wanting to get-rich-quick at the expense of Best Buy, me, and the employees....do I need mention which side I fall on? Best Buy has far more right to life than any little greedster! When these scumbags benefit me, & employ thousands, without being apex predators/scavengers to do it, then I will consider revising my opinion.....until then, these critters are just parasites (no better than dindus sucking up the welfare & Food Stamps, or banks sucking on the corporate welfare tit). Ain't no reason why some folks should lose their jobs, or I should "have to drive a little further down the road to another store" just so parasites can parasitize. All businesses (like K-Mart) rise up and eventually fail, but that in no way means such leeches should be allowed to speed their demise. I do not extend the right to life to such vermin, and just because our well paid (off) lawgivers consider such useless bloodsuckers legit, does not mean I do.
There are plenty of example of companies hiding under the skirts of the law. Drug companies price-gouging is one. Used to take Donnatal. Generic was $1 a pill. Then the generic makers all got driven out of business, and the original maker took over, hiked the price to $10 a pill....but only here. Canada $5 a pill. Tijuana $2 a pill. Just because something is legal does not mean it should be, just means the lawgivers cannot be bothered (or they are being paid off). Like I said, I'm all for capitalism, but draw the line at extremist capitalism (https://eand.co/how-predatory-capitalism-imploded-the-future-6a6396b8f2fc)
Oh I definitely believe in corporate regulation, I just don't believe in ex post facto criminality. What's happened to Sears, JC Penney, K Mart, Radio Shack, etc, isn't, and wasn't illegal, and I don't think we should change that after the fact and throw the executives to the wolves. Really, things like this should serve as cautionary tales to drive regulation in the long run. But my point was that you do have to permit some amount of unseemly behavior because the only way you could completely stamp it out would require the kind of government control of business that would end up with worse consequences in the long run. Let's keep these things in perspective; the economy is still roaring along even without these juggernuts and these companies dying off lets other ones take their place. I'd argue that it's a somewhat normal component of the business cycle.
If some hedge fund purchases Best Buy and strips it bare and runs it into the ground, that doesn't erode any sacred American institution. Best Buy has no more right to life than Mcdonalds. Sure some folks will lose their jobs, but these aren't exactly high-level career paths. And maybe customers have to drive a little further down the road to another store, but people will still have power and drinking water in their houses.
Keep things in perspective. The Enron comparison is a bit much, after all those guys committed actual crimes. A lot of your comparisons are situations in which actual crimes were committed.