Here's a good article by a well-known professor of economics at NYU's noted Stern School of Business. It explains four options available to "fix" the banking/frozen credit problem. I might note that any of them seem to be easily convertible from "ideas" to "plans" as Steve suggests is necessary before any are adopted.

What was alarming -- but not surprising -- is the author's calculation that in aggregate the U.S. banks are already insolvent. I've thought that to be the case for a while now, describing it as "insufficient capital". But the author's analysis of the situation is far worse than I imagined.

The author presents some pretty well-thought out analyses of the alternatives, explaining why he selected the one he did. (He chooses nationalizing the big banks, which is what seems to be happening.) Note that the author, Nouriel Roubini, while highly respected, is known as "Doctor Doom". While his economic analyses are always well-documented and presented, his conclusions often opt for the less optimistic side of the argument. Unfortunately, as he says in the lead-in to his article, his analysis of the banking situation over the last year or so hasn't been anywhere near pessimistic enough. In any event, this aticle is definitely worth the read so that we all might better understand what's going on with the banking bailout...

http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/11/gei...l_roubini.html