In a time of stability and growth, government can afford bold, persistent experimentation. But in a time of uncertainty, the last thing it needs is more uncertainty. Yet Obama’s confident pragmatism, like FDR’s, is a threat to confidence where it matters — among consumers, credit markets and investors.

Yes, letting GM go into bankruptcy would be scary. But a GM bailout merely kicks GM’s problems down the road while spreading the contagion about where Uncle Sam’s big feet will land next. Besides, bankruptcy isn’t the end of the world. It’s the means by which bad companies restructure to fix themselves. Bailouts are the means by which governments subsidize bad companies.