Does Regulation Solve the Corporate Ills?

The media says the US banks have all gone bankrupt..

Which industry is not "bankrupt" at some point or the other ? At any time, for any industry, its health is a matter of degree. While the business is good, no one complains. Executives take more risk. Sooner or later, "business as it is done" becomes unsustainable, and the house of cards come crashing down.

Will regulation help to prevent future collapse in any industry? I do not think so. If regulation is passed to make lending standards in banks better, the collapse of the future will in all probability not come from that particular issue. But some other part of the chain becomes the next weak point. It crashes at the weakest link.

As an investor, how can one keep one's portfolio safe from volatility as much as possible, but at the same time earning a "reasonable" rate of return?

As a company executive, when does one say, enough is enough, lets scale down our appetite for risk?

All tips welcome!