Economic turmoil brings new luster to some classic catchall solutions.

The politics around this are tough, given the hunger for regulation; advocate Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute points to the 25 countries with flat-tax systems, but rules out one in the United States anytime soon. King told The Big Money that it’s not something he’s running ads or campaigning on but that he’ll raise the issue in the next Congress.

3. Forget taxes! Save us from ourselves!

Mental-health metaphors are often invoked to explain market movements, lamenting our irrational nature (selling when we should be buying, refusing to lend because we think no one else will lend to us) while telling us that we shouldn’t expect people to be rational, anyway. Can the government help us wrestle with the little devils in our heads?

Harvard law professor Cass Sunstein and Chicago economist Richard Thaler say, “Maybe.” In the book Nudge, they prescribe a variety of ways of structuring decisions that involve a bit more regulation, helping the “Deciders” in all of us make better choices. For instance, employer-based 401(k) plans should be structured so that people have to opt out of a higher savings rate. Those who don’t explicitly do so will save more, usually making them better off in the long run.