Add to that the declining availability of funding for new weapons as Washington heads into a prolonged season of budget cutting, and the Ground Combat Vehicle looks doomed before it even gets going.

FORBES: Why The Army's New Combat Vehicle Is Doomed

Moreover, providing liquidity to financial institutions does not address directly instability or declining credit availability in critical nonbank markets, such as the commercial paper market or the market for asset-backed securities, both of which normally play major roles in the extension of credit in the United States.

FORBES: The Crisis and the Policy Response

Humdrum crimes are declining almost everywhere, thanks to better street policing and the ready availability of legitimate ways of earning money.

ECONOMIST: Britain's police forces are about to have a rash of mergers