I pretty much agree with all of kewp’s last post. Let me throw in a tangential point to consider, given the seeming abundance of all those bill eaters: Has the aggregate credit rating of US citizens and US businesses been irrevocably damaged, and if so, to what degree? What are the consequences of that drop in credit worthiness?

And maybe the second question: how much of the counterparty fear associated with the “credit crunch” is valid, and how much is invalid? There seems to be a conventional wisdom that the fear is mostly invalid, but I’m not sure that’s the case.