Polite Conversation: Investors and pundits debate the bailout.(Water Cooler)(Editorial)

Byline: Editorial Staff

"It is the highest impertinence and presumption, therefore, in kings and ministers, to

pretend to watch over the economy of private people, and to restrain their expense... They are themselves always, and without any exception, the greatest spendthrifts in the society. Let them look well after their own expense, and they may safely trust private people with theirs. If their own extravagance does not ruin the state, that of their subjects never will.

- Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, 1776

"As we've noted since Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke first described their bailout plan, the devil is in the details. …