I think it's hilarious that people think a free market system would fix these kinds of problems. While the free market theory may be a good one, in theory, history shows that human greed always corrupts it. Do you guys TRULY believe that without government oversight, there wouldn't be pricing collusion amongst companies in every industry, and rampant monopolization, among other problems?
The banking example is a great one. Our major industries have all realized that fees are the golden path to easy profits. Any of you that think businesses are about providing superior customer service are delusional. It's all about customer abuse now, and finding out how far they can push their customers before they lose them, or before they're forced to stop pushing.
Democracy is a great ideal, but humans corrupt it. The same with capitalism, it's a fantastic ideal, but humans continuously corrupt it unless forced not to. Checks and balances. If our government needs it, so does our industrial complex.