Hurray for the House, Part 2

The mainstream press' coverage of the bailout has been what I have recently heard described as an "echo chamber". Mere repetition of the talking points coming from the politicians, with no follow-up questioning or skepticism. I image a lot of reporters don't feel qualified to question confident declarations from experts.

A few days ago, I read an article (wish I could remember where) about a psychological experiment where it was shown that most test subjects would not dissent from the unanimous opinion expressed by a test group. However, as soon as one other person expressed a dissenting opinion, many test subjects would feel freed to express their own doubts. This is hardly a shocking scientific finding; we all know the story of the "Emperor's New Clothes."

I'm hoping that one of the best effects of today's No vote will be that the press will start presenting more dissenting points of view on the idea that we need a huge, hurried bailout.