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Democracy asserted itself and markets howled. In a disaster for Tarp’s political managers, the House of Representatives voted down the $700bn bailout. On both sides of the aisle congressmen proved far more reluctant to back the rescue than their leaders had expected. The bailout was hugely unpopular, and angry constituents had deluged their representatives with calls to block it, but on the markets (and in our newsroom) the assumption was that party leaders would not let the issue come to a vote unless they had an assured majority. The vote took place in the late morning, with the tallies of “Yeas” and “Nays” adding up in the corner of TV screens in trading rooms. Shortly after noon, the vote came to an end, and the Nays had won. The next minute saw the heaviest midday volume in history — and also created frantic scenes in the FT newsroom as the event happened only minutes before the deadline for the first edition of the newspaper. By day’s end, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen by a record (and very memorable) 777 points. The total fall in US market cap came to far more than the $700bn the administration had wanted to spend on rescuing banks.