The Beginning of the End?

Oh, joy:

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said political leaders are discussing the idea of closing the world’s financial markets while they “rewrite the rules of international finance.”

“The idea of suspending the markets for the time it takes to rewrite the rules is being discussed,” Berlusconi said today after a Cabinet meeting in Naples, Italy. A solution to the financial crisis “can’t just be for one country, or even just for Europe, but global.”

During a credit squeeze, telling people they won’t be able to get their hands on extra cash while the politicians do who-knows-what to the markets ought to help calm things down. Yeah, that’s the ticket.