If the justices decide they do not, the case would end without a high court ruling about marriage, although legal experts widely believe same-sex marriages would quickly resume in California.

NPR: Calif. Gay Marriage Argument At High Court Tuesday

Of course, if one dates the start of the real recession from September 2008, as many on Wall Street do, the case for an end in 2009 is less compelling.

WSJ: Opinion: Expect a Prolonged Slump

But regulators do need to examine on a case-by-case basis whether they will end up harming consumers.

ECONOMIST: Vertical restraints

Why do the pages of our tonier magazines brim with mournful titles like "The Case for Settling" and "The End of Men"?

WSJ: Has the Sexual Revolution Been Good for Women? Mary Eberstadt: No

"I do not really believe that the end of the world is coming, but it is nice to be here in case something unusual happens, " Darko, a 28-year-old designer visiting from Belgrade, told AFP.

BBC: 'Mayan day of apocalypse' arrives

"Commercial surrogacy is a highly controversial matter ethically and at the end of the day, by the time the case gets to me, the best I can do is focus on the welfare of the child, " he said.

BBC: High Court judge approves commercial surrogacy