I don’t quite understand Rand’s relevance in this current crisis. Where is the connection? All I can see are contradictions to what is actually happening.
While there are many people who suggest that the current recession is the result of the free market, Rand's supporters (of which I am), suggest that the recession is the result of governmental controls and intervention in the economy, and that our form of government hasn't gotten even remotely close to Laissez Faire, at least not for over a century.
The short and skinny is that many see the events of Atlas Shrugged playing out in real life.
Of course, no one's really going to read this, since the link is dead.
Because, from where I'm sitting, I'm not seeing where the government encouraged or rewarded self-destructive behavior.
In Rand's writing, government spending is equally detrimental to society - but you are correct that spending itself was not in question.