looks like we're about to find out

Well, that thing just got flushed. Interesting.

1) It was certainly a hell of a lot of money. And money that was quite possibly not going to do any discernible public good. If, for instance, it either didn't prevent or somewhat postponed inevitable bank failures, we'd all be holding the bag in ways much more tangible than we are at this moment. It was also (most likely) the greatest incentive to make the same mistake/continue banging your head on that wall any of us have ever seen. It would have done the utmost that could humanly be done to insulate executives/shareholders from consequences. A lot there to hate, regardless of your political persuasion, leading to

2) For there to really be an honest prospect of better days, better practices ahead, it seems that the executives and shareholders who bought into this mess are going to have to take it on the chin. Now, that sucks, and there can be no doubt. Economics is scientific because of very powerful predictive principles about human behavior. Where it falls short, it seems to me, it falls short because people are given too much credit for being rational actors. The only surefire way to prevent more "bad behavior" (i.e., risky, unwise speculation) in the future is for bad actors to bear the brunt of their mistakes now. Anything else gives people too much credit, i.e., for being able to repent of trying to get really rich in nefarious/risky ways. Won't happen, unless they lose their shirts.

3) Beyond which, a bailout-less world is one in which the consequences of bad behavior fall most heavily on those perpetrating it. UNLESS

4) The sky really is falling, and we will now have the credit contraction/widespread bank failure/run-on-your-local-bank that some people have forecasted. Barney Frank and George Bush and Nancy Pelosi will look like the goddamned Founding Fathers if that comes to pass.

5) While we're on the legislative groping that's gone on, interestingly, opposition to this seems to have crystallized mostly on the hard left and right. Let me just say that it does not engender great confidence in Nancy Pelosi that she brought a must-pass bill to the floor with only the support of at best 60% of her own caucus. The libruls weren't having it. Additionally, people like John Barrow were scared shitless. If it really is Doomsday (as she apparently believes), she would have been willing to risk getting 0 Republican votes. But it doesn't make any sense when your own (fairly strong) majority can't pass it, because they either don't believe in it, or don't want to touch it w/a 10-foot-pole. I dunno, maybe getting everyone on record before the Dow tanks is a relatively strong setup move for Round 2?

6) Am I the only one who woke up in the wee hours (about 5) this weekend wondering if this was the last weekend before a new Great Depression?