Is there any bank or corporation left in this country that doesn't need a federal bailout?

Under the Citigroup bailout plan, taxpayers assume responsibility for — take a deep breath — $306 billion of the financial giant's bad investments. Infuriatingly, the federal government has no choice. Citigroup really and truly is too big to fail.

Citigroup is by far the biggest American financial institution judged by assets ($2 trillion — that's three Wachovias). It's a financial behemoth of unparalleled global reach, from credit cards to home loans to corporate finance in more than 100 countries. If Citi went down, it could easily take the entire world financial system with it because its reach and scope are so pervasive.

Think of it like this: If the Big Three automakers fail, it would be like losing a foot — painful and debilitating, but the patient would survive. If Citigroup failed, we're talking a massive coronary that would put every system in the body at mortal risk. You see the problem. Not all bailout requests are made equal. In a catastrophic situation, the rules of triage apply.

It is interesting, and more than a little unsettling, to reflect on how little awareness Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and his rescue brigade had about Citi's fragility. Weeks ago, they urged Citi to buy bellyflopping Wachovia — and now Paulson and his team are engineering the mother of all bank rescues for the onetime rescuer. Paulson has lost a lot of credibility this fall, as his initial bailout plan, which was supposed to stanch the hemorrhaging, appears to have failed. Last week, Paulson said that no more big institutions would fail. This week er, never mind.

In fairness, though, the deeper we get into this financial storm, the clearer it becomes that screenwriter William Goldman's famous maxim about the movie business is true of those managing this fiscal crisis: "Nobody knows anything." Another Hollywood wise man, economist and actor Ben Stein, wrote over the weekend that this bear is so dangerous that we have to throw everything we have at the thing to stop it. Flexibility is actually a strength in this crisis.

That's why we're cautiously optimistic about the economic team President-elect Barack Obama unveiled Monday. Timothy Geithner at Treasury, Larry Summers as White House economic adviser and Peter Orszag as budget director — all of these are among the most brilliant economic minds in the country.

The caution comes in because they are all disciples of former Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, now at Citigroup, whose deregulating decisions helped create the disaster the new team has to clean up. But there are signs that all three have learned from the mistakes of the past.

In any case, all credit to the president-elect for moving quickly to establish his fiscal generals and to President George W. Bush for working closely with him to ensure a smooth transition. It's like trying to trade out flight crews in an orderly fashion while the plane is nose-diving.

Between here and Inauguration Day, it's going to be a white-knuckle ride.