Chamath Palihapitiya, chief executive of venture capital firm Social Capital, suggested yesterday that extending aid to giant multinationals might have the effect of propping up poorly performing CEOs and boards who wouldn't last under normal circumstances. He suggested instead that governments focus on helping individuals, while letting their employers fail, according to MarketWatch.

The CEO noted that, generally, when a business fails, it usually goes through a bankruptcy process that burns top leadership and their investors but leaves at least some jobs, plus their attached pensions, intact. In particular he singled out hedge funds, saying that these sophisticated investors knew the risks and should face the consequences—in other words, those who live by the sword die by the sword.

In fact, he argued that it might have been better for the government to have bypassed corporations entirely and used the money instead to fund more direct payments to individuals. He even suggested that the Fed should have just given every American a half a million dollars.