Many economists and policy makers are stating that the current financial crisis demonstrates that markets and capitalism are flawed and must be regulated and controlled, if not destroyed.

About 46 million Americans — 15 percent of the population — do not have health insurance, according to the latest U.S. Census data. Approximately $100 billion would be needed to provide them with coverage. Can we afford it? And where would the money come from?

We've begun to feel the pain of a recession in the real economy and that pain will get worse before it gets better. So far in 2008, job losses have averaged about 85,000 per month, but in September the number was 159,000.

The market for health insurance is different from other markets. Government is heavily involved and would become more so under reform plans now being debated. Information often is shielded from participants, whose behavior can be far from transparent.

In the last month, financial markets came as close to collapsing as they have since the Great Depression, and the root of their woes was frozen credit markets. The crisis sparked several weeks of furious and futile improvisation by U.S. regulators and lawmakers.

Back in the early 1990s, the Phoenix metro area — like the rest of the country — was suffering through a profound real estate recession and house prices declined for a record 17 straight months. Like Lou Gehrig's record for consecutive games played, it was thought it would never be equaled.

It's said the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, and some people sweating through the credit-market meltdown might agree. Underlying the wreckage are decades of regulatory and legislative decisions that opened the door to today's financial woes.

It is a ritual in offices around the country: the morning meet-up. Although employees may have already clocked in and should theoretically be hard at work, they meander over to the coffee pot, fill up a cup and kibitz.

If John McCain and Barack Obama agree on one thing, it's global warming and what to do about it. Both presidential candidates say that a so-called cap-and-trade system of regulation is the best way to stem U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases.

Arizona's policymakers face crucial decisions about how to ensure that future power needs are met for the nation's second-fastest growing state.