Is the flip side of “too big to fail” for the nation’s largest banks “too protected to change”? The decision by the federal government to prop up the likes of Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and others did more than just shield the financial system from the calamity that was feared during last year’s economic crisis. It also has created an environment of endless risk-taking on the part of big banks which now have no motivation to play it safe if they know Washington will always come to the rescue. With the government guarding their back, bank executives can continue pushing the envelope, not only in terms of investment strategies, but ever-increasing institutional size and broadening control of the market.