Financial "Hail Marys" Unlikely to Fix It

Over at the Wall Street Journal, an article today (here) discusses a variety of "Hail Mary" programs designed to jump start the economy, including plans from the current administration and advisors from both the Clinton and Reagan administrations. The article concludes:

Bottom line: There are no slam dunks when it comes to solving this economic problem. Which raises what may be the biggest Hail Mary of all: Do nothing, and hope the economy heals itself.

I agree that it may be time to let the economy run its course. At this point, both businesses and consumers seem to waiting for what someone else will do to--as noted SNL financial consultant Oscar Rogers once said-- "Fix it!" (see video at 5:12).  

Whether it's the stimulus package, U.S. Census jobs, Cash for Clunkers, Public Private Partnership Investment Program, or TARP, there seems to be a sense that some program will change everything for the better. It may be that if everyone calms down and lets the dust settle (and the market figure out the market), a cautious and consistent recovery might follow.  That would be more of a grind-it-out approach than a Hail Mary, but that seems preferable to me.  After all, do we really want a Hail Mary, which even Wikipedia notes has come to mean "any last ditch effort with little chance of success?"

--Joshua Fershee