...AND FINALLY...

With those in charge of global capitalism having done such a bad job, maybe the solution is to put animals in charge...

That�s what happened in the small Japenese town of Kishi and the experience has left them asking �What credit crisis?� as the local economy is booming. In 2007 the local train company jokingly made a stray cat �Tortoiseshell Tama�, adopted by a grocer who lives next door the local station, into �Stationmaster� of the unmanned platforms, humiliating the feline by making it wear a tiny �Wakayama Electric Railway cap�.

With so much perceived cuteness in one place, and convenient transport links to boot, it has sent the Japanese wild and tourists have flocked in. Over 55,000 more people than normal came in by train last year and Tama is now credited with having bought over a billion yen (�6m) into the local economy with tourists desperate to see the superstar feline line manager.

Why they couldn�t just dress up their own cats in bizarre anthropomorphic outfits is unclear but the research into the Tama-gotcha effect might just give economists paws for thought.