And then there were none! Last week's implosion of Lehman Brothers has brought about the end of Wall Street as we know it with Goldman Sachs and Morgan stanley now moving to become bank holding companies. The significance of this latest development should not be under-estimated. They will now be regulated by the Fed and the move ditches the intent of the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act which separated investment and commercial banks.

"The decision marks the end of Wall Street as we have known it,'' former chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp Walter Isaac told Bloomberg.

But will it help? Hardly, says the Naked Capitalism blog.

"The latest 'Let's do something, anything' move to rescue the financial system is yet another example of expediency trumping sound long-term measures. The motivation for making Goldman and Morgan Stanley banks seems obvious: the powers that be seem determined to prevent either firm from going under. Being banks gives the firms access to a expanded menu of rescue facilities and tools. The other reason for the move is to subject the firms to increased oversight, but given the lack of enthusiasm of the Fed for regulating banks going into this crisis, and its lack of expertise in complex debt products, bringing the firms under the Fed's purview at this juncture is more a political talking point than a risk-reduction measure."

It's a move that smacks of political expediency and opportunism. And a damn sight easier than tackling the debt-building exercises that got us into this mess.