What if in response to the overwhelming public opposition, which is surprising even me, Team Banker yanks the bailout? The market will crash, bailout or no bailout, but with no bailout, they can say “I told you so.”

Then when people are really hurting, I mean jumping out of windows hurting, they can come back with emergency powers, Obama or no Obama.

Don’t think they aren’t considering it. These guys are all high-IQ players who think moves ahead and make contingency plans, and they are getting desperate.

Any serious student of the Great Depression will sooner or later come across a very interesting story from the summer of 1933. Somehow I doubt Bernanke discussed this in his Princeton courses.