The worst financial crisis since the Great Depression is claiming another casualty: American-style capitalism. Since the 1930s, U.S. banks were the flagships of American economic might, and emulation by other nations of the fiercely free-market financial system in the United States was expected and encouraged.

As the economic news grows more grave, look for newspapers, Web sites, and networks to prospect for the "hidden" good news contained in our collective calamity and report that the recession (or depression) is good news for such things as public schools, libraries, the climate, and yes, even churches.

Britain's mammoth new bank bailout plan, potentially nearly as large as the rescue package in the United States, failed to calm European investors Wednesday after its early morning emergency announcement. All over the continent, stocks dropped sharply again and even some of the banks the plan is meant to stabilize suffered new sell-offs.

The economic prognosis is relentlessly bleak. Jobless numbers are soaring. Stocks are plunging. Your co-workers, your fellow passengers on the commuter train and even your dental hygienist are all volunteering that they've converted their 401(k) stock funds to cash. Could it mean a bull market is just around the corner?

This article offers 16 alternative to the "normal' money spending activities.

John McCain's proposal to buy up bad home mortgages would use nearly half the $700 billion from the recent Wall Street bailout package to assist Americans directly, instead of indirectly by rescuing the nation's financial markets.

Smart journalists should never mistake a single data point for a meaningful development. Data isn't the plural of anecdote, as the saying goes. But every so often you have to go with your gut. And so I'm suggesting—not declaring—that the recent results from Pediatrix Medical Group may indicate that the slower economy is causing a decline in births.

The Senate on Wednesday upped pressure on the House to pass a $700 billion rescue for Wall Street by strongly approving a plan that supporters said would avert a potential economic disaster.

After a week of tumult, an unprecedented government bailout of the financial industry gained ground in the House on Friday and leaders in both political parties expressed optimism the $700 billion measure would clear Congress by day's end for President Bush's signature.