There is nothing similar in how this crisis came about, yet there is a lot that Ben Bernanke could learn from the way a much smaller scale crisis was resolved. I am referring to a crisis that took place not in Japan, and not in 1929, but one that very few people heard about:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_stock_crisis_(Israel_1983)

In a nut shell, most Israelis were for years led to believe that shares of the biggest 4 banks in Israel could not go down. Investment in those bank shares had become the main tenant of a conservative portfolio of every Israeli. My grandfather and grandmother -- at the time age 75 -- held all their savings in these stocks because they trusted the local bank manager who told them this was a safe investment that yielded slightly above inflation.

This went on for years but when the selling pressure became too high and the bank shares were about to collapse the government had to intervene. The way they did it is what the US should be looking at now. The government of Israel (in 1983) not only prevented an economic collapse and saved savers like my grandparents, but avoided inflation (which was already running high but the government prevented adding fuel to the fire and reduced it considerably in the following years) and eventually managed to get the tax payers profit from the way the crisis was resolved.

The way it was done included 3 basic principals:

1. Government took ownership of the banks and thus restored confidence but the tax payers now owned the banks.
2. They started an investigation, in some cases criminal probes, into the people responsible and they had to pay fines for their part of creating the crisis.
3. Debt restructuring: Holders of the failed financial instruments received a replacement specifically issued government bonds for 6-12 years. The elderly were given parts of their money within 1-3 years, younger people within 6 years and corporations within 12.

During the next 20 years the government slowly sold off 3 out of the 4 banks. It is still trying to sell the 4th one. Each of those banks was sold at profit for the tax payer on their initial investment. The Israeli economy -- which in 1982-1983 was on the brink of falling apart with high inflation, loss of confidence (people were literally taking their money in cash (US dollars) and keeping it at home), has thrived since the crisis was resolved in this way.

Now, what's more un-American? To temporarliy "nationalize" the banks, or to give bankers the break of their lives after years of abuse?