The bank failures begin

The other day I painted a pretty bleak picture of the dangers facing our financial system, including the possibility of a failure of one or more of the major Wall Street houses. It seems that has just about come to pass:

WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve invoked a rarely used Depression-era procedure Friday to bolster troubled Bear Stearns Cos. and said it will provide even more help to combat a serious credit crisis.

In a move that reminds one of the robber baron days, J.P. Morgan was part of the bailout plan for Bear Stearns. This plan works for only a month, so one wonders what happens when the month comes to an end.