Warren Buffett calls the financial meltdown happening around us an ``economic Pearl Harbor.''

''In my adult lifetime, I don't think I've ever seen people as fearful economically as they are now,'' Buffett said on PBS last week.

For governments, companies and consumers, the credit market tightened significantly in recent days; banks even refused to lend to one another. The daily economic news and wild market swings didn't boost any confidence. Five banks in the United States and Europe have been rescued by government intervention just in the past week.

''This financial crisis is now being compared to the Great Depression. In fact, the U.S. economy has not experienced such financial volatility in an election year since the 1930s,'' says Nichole Castater, an expert on financial markets and institutions at Barry University, adding that it took much more than one bailout effort to right the economy back then.

Friday, Congress passed the controversial bailout bill -- some now call it an economic rescue bill. To be sure, the 400+-page bill filled with sweeteners isn't a cure-all, but it could be an important first step to speed the recovery, analysts say.

''The bottom of the housing crisis -- and the recession -- will be sooner and not as deep,'' Ken Thomas, a Miami banking consultant, told The Miami Herald on Friday, likening the crisis to a spreading virus that needs to be stopped.

Castater says what's important now is getting past the blame game and remembering our economy needs help fast. You can read her letter to the editor on Page 7. You can also view videos of local business leaders such as AutoNation's Mike Jackson and the Miami-Dade Chamber's Bill Diggs and what they have to say about the wisdom of the bailout and more at MiamiHerald.com/

business_monday.

And in today's cover story, Patrick Danner explores how the weak economy and credit crunch are taking a toll on business sales. Think it takes a long time to sell a house these days? Try unloading a company.

It's just one in a series of cover stories we have been doing on how different aspects of the economy are faring. Got an idea for a sector we should be looking at? E-mail me.

Close readers of this space may have noticed I said farewell last week! Well, the day after that column ran I was asked to stay a little longer to help with coverage of the financial crisis so I'll be with you another month or whatever is needed.

Nancy Dahlberg is the editor of Business Monday.

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