Placebo

Overheard at the supermarket: "So do you think we'll have a depression, or will they pass that bill?"

If people are imbuing the bailout with that kind of power, it has a better chance of succeeding than I thought. On the downside, if people think it's the bill or a depression, things are mildly worse than I thought.

How would the old cowboys try to get a stampeding herd back under control when the thundering hooves of the herd drowned out all other sound? I suppose they wouldn't have tried, they'd just wait the whole thing out and then round the herd back up when the stampede had played itself out, hoping that there were no cliffs nearby.