Speaking in Washington Friday morning, President Bush promised that a financial rescue package would be passed, warning there is no choice but to act.

Meanwhile, for financial markets in Europe and around the world, it's a nervous wait-and-see. 

Economist Margaret Bray of the London School of Economics says there is good reason to be nervous. "This is a situation where panic feeds upon itself," she said. "The financial markets are very jittery and until some sort of more normal action comes back to these markets it does make it very difficult for important aspects of the economy to function."

And that normal economic activity affects not just the movers and shakers in London's financial district or on Wall Street, but small businesses and average workers, as Bray explains.

"You're running a business, you need to borrow to meet your payroll this month because you're not going to get in money for what you're selling for another month - you want to have a loan to put your daughter through college - you want to buy a house - it affects all these things and those have a knock-on effect for people's jobs,"