Populist anger is boiling all around us. An Economist cover proclaims “the war against the rich.” A Wall Street Journal headline reads “small business versus bailed-out banks” with a photo of picketers demonstrating outside a Bank of America branch in Chicago (they also held a prayer vigil). Outrage over the AIG bonuses was widespread. Polls show that confidence in business executives is at an all-time low in the U.S., and not only because of failures in financial and auto companies. Retirees whose pensions have plummeted and homes have been foreclosed are probably too tired to protest, but the undercurrent of anger and blame is everywhere.