Henry Paulson, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Treasury, recently announced a plan to purchase equity stakes in large public financial institutions to stem the tide of bankruptcies and failures brought on by the credit crisis. By buying shares in big banks, the government is essentially providing much needed cash to stabilize the companies and provide for some liquidity and credit stimulus. This is just one of many actions announced in an attempt to diffuse the credit crisis. Equally busy are Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve. Paulson swears …