Now that Citigroup has been thrown a lifeline, people are asking who's next.

Questions are being asked whether Bank of America is next. And will there be more? Paul Miller, a Friedman Billings Ramsey banking analyst, has told Associated Press that more banks will be lining up because the finance sector needs $1.2 trillion in capital. As journalist David Hirst notes, it's become a case of viral bail-out mania. "The entire world banking system is now vulnerable to huge debt exposures, with Bank of America and Wells Fargo reportedly joining the bail-out line behind the other giant of world banking, Citigroup. The international bourgeoisie is to be gutted. Many are already poorer for it. But the banks need more."

If that's right, we are likely to see most, if not all, US financial companies under government control. And taxpayers will be footing the bill.