Today, the Washington Post reports that the Bush administration has green-lighted "the most sweeping federal overhaul of the mortgage finance system since the Great Depression"--a measure that will bail out more than 400,000 homeowners and increasing the Treasury's ability to cushion Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Meanwhile, at the New York Times, Freakonomics blogger Stephen Dubner points out that capitalism is getting a bad rap:

The turbulence of the U.S. economy has lots of people railing against capitalism itself, and with good reason: capitalism is inherently turbulent. That's why the legendary economist Joseph Schumpeter called it "creative destruction." Not only must eggs be broken to make an omelet, but sometimes people may decide they want their omelets made with no eggs at all.

That said, a lot of people (myself included) nevertheless regard capitalism as the best economic system yet invented. Is it perfect? Hardly. Are there all sorts of flaws, blind spots, unfortunate losers, and undeserving winners? Of course. When I think of capitalism in toto, I think of what Churchill once said about democracy in toto: "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."

Dubner argues that "broken eggs" are ultimately good for the system. But what happens when some of the eggs--even some that are far past their expiration date--aren't allowed to break?

Looks like here in the U.S., sooner or later, we're bound to find out.