Confidence?

The current mantra to explain our deepening recession/depression is that the public has lost confidence that the the market will solve the problems it created. Therefor, even those still employed have stopped all unnecessary spending. Coupled with an almost total constriction in the credit markets, this is a near fatal blow to our consumption based economy.
During the great depression, one of the mechanisms which was used to alleviate the unemployment problem was the CCC---Civilian Conservation Corps. Millions of men and women were employed by the government on public works projects, which made permanent contributions to the infrastructure and well being of the nation. We could use three C's again: Competence, Certainty, and Confidence, in that order.
If the public sees that the politicians it elected mean what they promised, and are proceding competently to tackle the problems in the economy, not with idealogy, and not for the benefit of the well off and well connected, a sense of certainty that things will get better will gradually grow. As jobs are created again Confidence will
rise again. We will return to the optimistic, "can do" American spirit that made us the economic engine of the world. But, along with the three C's must come the realization that never again will a giant, free wheeling economy such as ours be allowed to function without a traffic cop and a set of rules and regulations which will prevent it from derailing again in the next market cycle. A totally free market is a vulnerable market.