Bailing out the big boys

Over at AmericaBlog, Chris in Paris says this:

The banking system that is tumbling was designed and built together with the GOP. They can sit silent but they own this. McCain and his friends own this. This is what they wanted and there is no reason why US taxpayers ought to keep funding their mistakes. Shouldn't we treat Wall Street the way Wall Street and the GOP treat America's poor? Let them pick themselves up with their own bootstraps. Let them dig themselves out of the hole they dug form themselves. We can't afford a war plus a tanking economy plus a bailout for Wall Street. If that means the market will decided (as they always prefer) then so be it. Don't come crying and asking for cash now that the system they wanted is failing. Tough luck.

While I sympathize with his distaste for bailing out the banking system, I also think we have no choice but to bail it out. It's too important to all of us to let it collapse. As I've mentioned before, if the system crashes, we would have no way to get money or to pay for anything. The whole economy would come crashing down on us. Banks would be closed, ATMs wouldn't work, credit cards would be worthless, stocks and bonds would be worthless. Try to imagine living in a barter economy. With nobody to buy their goods, companies would shut their doors and send their employees home without pay. It's a nightmare scenario, and we're very close to falling into it. So, let's hope and pray that the Fed is able to prevent a domino effect of bank closings.