Few of us spend much time thinking about the plumbing in our homes, much less the plumbing of the world's financial system.

But people around the world have focused on just that during these last three weeks, as policy makers have raced to fix the credit markets that carry money from those who have funds available to those who need it.

The pipes have burst in the basement, and the public is angry, confused and in a panic, trying salvage what they have been saving. The stock market has seen its biggest sell-off in a generation.

The situation reminds us why historians and economists used to use the word "panic," rather than the modern, antiseptic terms of "correction," "bear market," or "recession," to describe a downturn in the markets and the broader economy.

Maine communities have been forced to delay projects involving things such as school improvements and airport expansions. The communities are worried that the interest rates they'd have to pay on bonds floated in this market would be too high.

We learned today that retailers aren't seeing much coming out of the consumer tap either. Retail sales nationally fell by 1.2 percent in September, the largest amount in nearly three years.

On the plus side, we're also being told that money is starting to move in the credit markets. Maybe lawmakers, finance ministers and central bank executives worldwide have succeeded in breaking up the clog.

If so, there will be a lot of cleaning up to do, as the economy struggles to regain its footing. But at least we'll have some copper tubing in place, so we won't have to worry about the most basic aspects of our economy while we're pumping out.

E-mail this entry to a friend