At The Hill, Brad DeLong says:

Yes, the "system" worked. Here, I think, the person to listen to is security expert Bruce Schneier, who says:

Counterterrorism in the airport is a show designed to make people feel better. Only two things have made flying safer: the reinforcement of cockpit doors, and the fact that passengers know now to resist hijackers."

In this case, it was a sharp-eyed and alert passenger who was the "system" that "worked."

That's why I'm still going to avoid airplanes. 

Brad DeLong, an economist, says that the chance of another Great Depression is now about 5 percent. Before now he said the chance was zero. Well, that's not conforting.