Making it up as you go along

The use of improvisation as a comedic device is one thing, using the very same to avert economic stagnation is quite another. The latest stand-up routine from Night at the Improv:

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr. on Wednesday announced a major shift in the thrust of the $700 billion financial rescue program, at the same time joining several agencies in prodding banks to speed up the thaw in the country's credit system.

Paulson said the $700 billion would not be used to buy up troubled mortgage-related securities, as the rescue effort was originally conceived, but would, instead, be used in a broader campaign to help financial markets and, in turn, make loans, including car and student loans, more accessible for creditworthy borrowers.

Or was it all just a bait-and-switch routine?