Bailout benefits uneven

The $700 billion rescue plan for the clogged credit markets won’t fix all the problems of the economy, but it will lessen their severity. Ken Thomas, a Miami banking consultant, says the bottom of the housing crisis will come sooner and be less deep than it would have been otherwise, and the short term-effects of the bill’s passage into law should start to free up some credit right away. Bowman Brown, chairman of the financial services practice group at the Shutts & Bowen law firm in Miami, says the bailout is a historic and critical step.