The fact that those responsible for the recent economic crisis have not been held accountable is setting a very dangerous trend, believes investigative journalist Matt Taibbi, author and contributing editor to Rolling Stone magazine.

“The number one thing that came out of this whole period is that there are absolutely no consequences for any of the people who committed this wide-scale fraud,” Taibbi said. “We had these massive bailouts and there is enormous amount of the public anger about that. If you couple bailouts with the lack of law-enforcement, the lack of prosecutions, there is really no incentive going forward for people on Wall Street not to commit crimes, especially if they are incredibly profitable.”

“If people on Wall Street look at that and they say ‘Hey, if I rip off a pension fund or insurance company, or a foreign bank, or a foreign hedge fund, there will be absolutely no consequences. Even if it all blows up, even if we bet completely wrong, the worst-case scenario is that the government is going to come in and bail us out with tax payer money’,” he added.

The reason politicians are procrastinating is that they are completely unaware of people’s needs and sufferings, Matt Taibbi believes.

“What used to be the middle class in this country is now facing foreclosure in huge numbers. I mean, millions of people at a time are going into foreclosure, they are losing their houses, they are losing their life savings, but I think the people who are running this country do not really see that,” he said. “Their entire experience is limited to a very small circle of people who see a very different America, one that is very affluent.”