When a giant company fails, even through fraud, theft or arrogant hubris, the right-wing pundits typically say, "See? The market works!" Have you ever wondered about this?

The core idea is simple enough. In an unregulated marketplace, companies that can supply demand at an acceptable price will win. Companies that can't do so will go bankrupt or be acquired. It's said to be a "natural" process that weeds out inefficient companies and rewards efficient ones.

We saw this "market works" mentality following the spectacular failures of companies like Enron and WorldCom a few years ago. But those were nothing compared to the failures we've seen lately, and the response has been very different. Fannie, Freddie, Lehman, Merrill Lynch, AIG? These are the big bulls of Wall Street, crashing and burning, pulling down with them our retirement funds, savings, housing values and dreams. But no one is offering us capital infusions, interest-free loans or bailouts; the $700 billion-plus is all for them, not us. (Side note: Where is that money coming from?)

The reality of markets is very different from what the right-wing ideologues claim. When giant companies fail, it throws many thousands of people directly into the unemployment lines. It takes stock values from something to zero in a flash, and it leaves communities gasping.

In the long run, say the right-wing pundits ordinarily, the economy will be stronger because of this weeding out. But as John Maynard Keynes once said, "In the long run, we are all dead," and we are seeing that the right-wing policymakers are not walking their own talk.

Back to politics. John McCain blames the current financial meltdown on Wall Street greed. He's not wrong, but it's a very partial and therefore false and misleading claim.

Greed is inevitable, always with us. The question is: How is it contained? Not by moralizing and finger-pointing, but only by appropriate regulatory oversight backed by the force of law and penalty, or by the sharing of deep values about the common good and how that is accomplished. If people cannot control their own greed, then society can establish enforcement processes to control the excesses of greed.

Barack Obama says that the financial meltdown and the energy crisis are both traceable to the failure of government over the past 25 years to meet its responsibility to guard and enhance the public domain through investment and regulation. This is so true that it hurts.

Please take a look at the presidential platforms on energy, health care, taxation and the economy in general -- four issues that are crucial to our collective and individual financial well-being.

McCain is for lower taxes all around, especially for the rich and for corporations. He favors health care if you can afford to buy it. He proposes long-term projects to increase oil production and therefore consumption. His ideas on the economy are ?. hmm, what to say? Here's his Web site: "John McCain believes that globalization is an opportunity for American workers." That's interesting, especially for the millions who are laid off or downgraded because of exported jobs.

Actually, on McCain's Web site, there is no category for "economy," which pretty much says it all. When I tried to move deeper into the site's sections on health care, ethics reform, etc., here's what I got: "Forbidden: IP address of the client has been rejected." That means that the McCain folks have targeted me as a voter who does not deserve to get any answers about what McCain supports.

Obama is for lower taxes for the middle class and below. Unlike McCain, he acknowledges that eight years of Bush policies have stacked up dangerous debt for our nation. If that debt isn't paid soon, you'd be wise to start teaching your children and grandchildren Chinese. Is there any reason for the wealthy to avoid paying their dues to society?

Obama's economic policies are specific in many respects -- trade, innovation, energy, education, and much more. Take a look; I don't think you'll be banished from his Web site. Obama favors health care for everyone and has a plan to pay for it. He proposes long-term projects to boost our use of solar, wind, geothermal, and other renewable or inexhaustible energy supplies, and has a plan to pay for it.

If you think that McCain has specific economic policies and Obama doesn't, you've been getting too much of your news from Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh. Look for yourself -- if your IP address hasn't been blocked from the Republican Web sites.