Stimulus versus Bailout,

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman yesterday efficiently articulated the important distinction between a "stimulus plan" and a "bailout":

[T]he fiscal stimulus plan — ... should, on its face, be very popular — and the bank bailouts, which are deeply (and understandably) unpopular. Spending on infrastructure commands broad support; rescuing bankers from the consequences of their own folly, broad revulsion.

And he rightly takes the Obama administration to task for not doing much "to make the distinction" as clear as he has. Stimulus, si! Bailout, no!