Thanks PM.  The upshot of your post when distilled, I believe, is that there will always be winners and there will be losers owing to the machinations of others ..... as is always the case with people, where it is the average joe who will experience the brunt of the mistakes made by the powerful.  My concern is more in the area outside the manipulation, events beyond the control of any individual or group.  

You also cite cycles that repeat through economic history, but one also needs to be open to unprecedented changes that will yield a different economic equation. Take for example the rise of China as an economic power and the unprecedented effects on the world economy as a consumer of commodities.  This would in many minds present a moderating affect on something localized in the US economy (which by the way is not the subprime) at the world level.  

Books have been written about the psychology of the group and humans are certainly predictable on many levels from which behaviour others capitalize.  It's the changing economic/political/physical environment that we can't predict so easily.  We will see, but I don't see any drop in interest having long term affects.  Can they bail out B.S. and Citibank with their sale of real estate?  Who's got the money when you can't get a loan?  I truly don't know so I'll have to wait for time to tell me.  Do I believe the US can achieve anything, including fixing the global market?  I know this, somebody is going to come out on top.  I just don't know who it is or how they will do it as yet.  In the end you may be totally correct in your assertions.