In the current American Thinking, I have an article raising questions about the wisdom of our current policies for our financial infrastructure and compare with the inefficiencies, political favoritism and pork barrel spending on "internal improvements" such as our federal highway system.  I concluded:

More broadly, we should take a step back and re-examine the road we're on with federal "internal improvements" for our financial infrastructure, too.  With the federal government's use of the Federal Reserve, and Fannie and Freddie, to pave our financial paths, we need to see the continued political favoritism, inefficiencies and wasteful spending.

Something to ponder while stuck in rush-hour traffic, realizing that your financial situation has probably deteriorating 40%, in large part thanks to the popped housing bubble.

We've been playing this game for 200 years but don't seem willing to learn the lessons of this history.  I'm sure throwing more dollars to study this question would give us more insight, right?  <sarcasm>