The fossil record indicates that there have been various mass extinctions in earth’s history. Of course, the most famous general extinction is that of the dinosaurs. There are various theories as to why these extinctions took place, but the basic idea common to all is that conditions changed in ways that made survival impossible-at least for the species that perished. This left space open for other species to fill the newly emptied niche. For example, some have claimed that the death of the dinosaurs opened the way for the rise of humans.
Now, to the obvious metaphor. The companies that are failing are, obviously enough, like the dinosaurs. Once, they were powerful, successful and dominant. But, conditions have changed and they are dying off. Unlike the dinosaurs, they have largely contributed to their own demise.
Trying to save these companies could, if the analogy works, be like trying to save the dinosaurs from extinction. If so, it would make little sense to dump resources on these dying behemoths. Naturally, the analogy can be countered-there might well be some important differences between dinosaurs and such companies (for example, dinosaurs are regarded as cool and people really like dinosaurs-no so for the failing companies).
To push the analogy even further, perhaps it can be a good thing to let these companies fail. Just as the death of the dinosaurs opened the way for the rise of the mammals, the death of these failing companies can open the way for newer (and hopefully better) companies. While it will be ugly for a while with all those rotting carcasses lying around, things will (one might argue) improve.