A week ago, the big question in Washington was: Which industries will be bailed out of their losses because of coronavirus?

This week, the question is: Which industries won’t?

With stunning speed, it has become clear that many mainstays of American industry are facing potentially existential risks from their looming financial losses, and that Congress and the Trump administration are determined to prevent widespread bankruptcies and corporate collapse.

But not all bailouts are equal. There are distinctly different rationales for industry bailouts, each with different implications for how a rescue is (or ought to be) designed and carried out. And the surprisingly rich history of the U.S. government’s stepping in to backstop major companies and industries shows what forms they might take.

In normal times and in most cases, the process for dealing with a company that runs out of money is straightforward. It goes to court and files for bankruptcy protection; shareholders generally get wiped out or close to it; and the business is either restructured (in Chapter 11) or liquidated (in Chapter 7), with whatever is left divided fairly among those the company owed money to.