We were going to call this page "The Crumbling Economy" but didn't want to contribute to the alarmism that leads to a, well, crumbling economy. There's no doubt the US financial world is feeling a little shaky these days - but how much the turmoil on Wall Street will have a long term impact on the rest of the economy is still an open question.

Still, the Federal Reserve (the US's lending arm which tries to keep the economy on an even keel) and Congress are not waiting to intervene in ways they hope will cushion any crash. Through interest rate tweaks, stimulus plans, new regs and "bail-outs" they're hoping to give the economy enough bounce to avoid falling into a deep recession. Here we just keep track of their efforts.

Consumerism boost: Congress passed a "stimulus" plan in early '08, doling out $600 checks to most working Americans (low income taxpayers will get $300). With checks scheduled to start arriving in May, economists are hoping consumers will hit the mall (and not the savings bank) to shoot some energy into the economy.

Help from the Fed: The Federal Reserve is playing its usual economy-boosting game of lowering interest rates (which makes it more attractive to borrow and invest in the economy) to avoid a deep recession, but it has also started funneling money to investment houses (as short term loans) to prop up confidence among investors. The Fed has pretty much promised an open tap to financial institutions, with expectations that it will lend out hundreds of billions of dollars.

Even though there's a debate over how wise it is to "bail-out" ailing Wall Street firms, almost no one envy's the Fed chairman's Catch-22 (as this NYTimes article explains): if he props up financial firms too much he encourages them to continue taking rash risks and puts strains on the faith in the Federal Reserve itself; if he doesn't prop them up, he risks a domino reaction on Wall Street that could lead to a nasty recession.

Propping up mortgages: Congress and DC regulators are also churning out ways to save homeowners from defaulting mortgages - by easing up and creating new federally backed loans - while protecting families from future risky loans. See our Housing Jitters page.

Regulating Wall Street: At least part of the current headache on Wall Street is blamed on newer, higher-risk and under-regulated ways of investing. Banks have the FDIC hanging over them to make sure they aren't going too far out on a limb (or at least making their work more transparent); many on the Hill would like to see DC also take a larger role in regulating all financial institutions. Congressional leaders and the administration have plans in the works, but no one expects any changes to be made this year - and only after many ideas are battled out. (NYT, NYT, WP, WP)