Obama, elected last November in part on a promise to foster fiscal responsibility, has seen Washington push through almost $1.5 trillion in emergency spending since October to fight a 14-month recession and a spreading global credit crisis. He says the spending binge is crucial to head off an even bigger economic disaster.

The financial system is central to this process. Banks and the credit markets transform the earnings and savings of American workers into the loans that finance a first home, a new car or a college education. And this system provides the capital and credit necessary to build a company around a new idea.