Whatever the cause (panic, government regulation, lack of government regulation), the fact is, the credit market has collapsed. commercial paper trading and interbank lending, two huge lubricants of our economy have stopped. Soon, companies will be forced to stop construction, additional hiring and R&D to name just a few things. Other companies that are otherwise profitable but have to borrow just to cover seasonal fluctuations in their business will be forced out of business (e.g. retailers, farmers).

To give some anecdotal evidence on top of the news I now hear everywhere, where I live, a huge very reputable construction company just walked away from a $100 million project because its financing vanished. It painfully left $3 million behind in escrow. If you think the "Bailout" is about saving fat cats, consider the thousands of construction jobs that now won't exist just because of the collapse of one local deal. Things like this are being repeated in every town and company across the country.