When Congress debated the bailout package last week, plenty of respected economists argued that the bill would do little to fix the problems in the banking sector. However, others insisted we had to “do something” to avert a market meltdown.

Many people became reluctant supporters of the bailout because of the need to “do something.” Here’s how Tom Harkin explained his “yes” vote:

I reluctantly voted in favor of this bill because I believe our nation’s financial system faces serious challenges, and it is important for us to act.  However, I am under no illusions.  I firmly believe that Congress should not have been rushed into this action, but we needed to do something to calm the markets and restore confidence in our economy. While this package will do that in the short term, we must modify it early next year to strengthen and improve the rescue framework – and I will be leading the charge to do that.

Since George Bush signed the bailout bill into law, global and American stock markets have fallen sharply, with the Dow Jones industrial average now at its lowest point in five years.

The front-page headline on Tuesday’s Des Moines Register was apt:

Global markets plunge in response to rescue

Experts unsure what moves might restore confidence

But a week earlier, many of those “experts” insisted that disaster would strike if Congress didn’t jump on board the runaway train. Day after day, the Register’s coverage was slanted in favor of the bailout proposal.

The bailout was very bad politics, but that wouldn’t bother me so much if it had been good policy. Unfortunately, it is already turning out to be a very expensive non-solution to a big problem.

In the coming years, that non-solution will deprive us of the money needed for real solutions.