And if share prices do fall further, or if demand in America slows abruptly for some other reason, effective remedial action is still possible: the Fed could cut interest rates (as it did, too much so as it turned out, after the stockmarket crash of 1987) or Congress could cut taxes.

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But it stands to reason that it is possible this expenditure could be doing some good.

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For that reason, some physicians treat patients with the highest dose of Lipitor possible and then add Zetia, thereby getting as much power from Lipitor as possible.

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One possible reason: controversy over Zyprexa's potential to cause weight gain in some patients.

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This does not mean there won't be more political histrionics, but the beginning of applying reason to Washington is understanding that it is possible to cut at least some federal spending.

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Nobody would claim that the 1996 act has worked as intended, but it is possible that real competition in local telephone markets is nearer than some have thought--one reason why so many telecoms stocks fell after the deal.

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Yet shorter-term and prudent expedients are still possible, which might bring greater reason and order to public financial affairs, and might buy some time until longer-term, more-libertarian solutions are possible.

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