One thing is for certain, the global financial system is an extremely complex and tightly coupled system that is in the throes of non-linear feedback loops that threaten to rend it limb from limb. Small and slow inputs, like the bailout bill ($700 billion) or the ad hoc actions of the Federal Reserve (already $1.8 trillion and climbing), from the government control system are not even in the ballpark of what's necessary to mitigate the system's excesses and return it to normal operation.

One solution: Nuke entire parts of the system. In short, destroy the system's network connectivity. For example, credit default swaps ensure that failure will spread through internetworked contracts. Nuke CDS derivatives ($60 trillion or so) by making them illegal. Destroy parts of the network in order to save the remainder -- firewalls and firebreaks.