Put simply, the hastily crafted plan lawmakers agreed to in principle on Sunday is intended to revive jittery and fragile banks on Wall Street with enough money -- by using taxpayer funds to purchase billions upon billions of their worst mortgage-related assets -- so that lending, the lifeblood of the American economy, flows freely again.

If it is working, signs will emerge almost immediately in the interest rates on U.S. bonds and in an array of obscure -- but crucial -- financial benchmarks.

Loans -- particularly those made from one bank to another -- would be more available and less expensive in a matter of days, if not weeks.

And as the government gobbles the banks' toxic assets, the industry would gain the confidence and strength needed to make it easier and cheaper for families to borrow for homes, cars and college -- and for businesses to secure ample debt to pay for plants, equipment and workers.

Still, rising unemployment, high energy prices and falling real estate values will not disappear overnight.