This week has been full of financial news and events. Here’s some things to think about over the weekend.

The Responsiveness Scorecard

So: is the Obama administration’s ARRA a 21st century Manhattan Project that will ignite smart growth?

Though wonks will discuss its imperfections to death, ARRA’s actually not a bad financial stimulus (here’s why) . Yet, even a perfect stimulus isn’t a solution to the macro crisis. Why not?

The real problem isn’t stimulus, it’s responsiveness. We’re trapped in a zombieconomy: one full of brain-dead organizations who are about as intelligently responsive as Homer Simpson.

You May Be Richer than You Think

We are feeling growing financial strain, according to five separate Gallup polls conducted over several months in 2008. The percentage of survey respondents indicating they are somewhat or very worried about keeping up with monthly payments rose dramatically in December to 30% — up from 21% last February.

But experts say current events may color our perceptions, so that we regard ourselves as financially worse off than we really are. All the news about economic turmoil, endless commercials touting “recession specials” and increased bankruptices amongst retailers have created a general sense of instability that many are taking to heart.

1930s Lessons

Barrie Wigmore is a retired investment banker at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. whose book “The Crash and Its Aftermath” is an indispensable guide to the stock market during the Depression. He says: “The truth is, we’re really in no man’s land. We’ve never been here before. It’s much more important to focus on the variables that we really know today without cluttering your mind up with comparisons to the Depression.”

What we do know, Mr. Wigmore says, is that consumers and corporations alike will be compelled to deleverage in the years to come.