another note, people call Bernanke a Keynesian but what the Fed and the US govt do has nothing to do with economics apart from the economics of power. Otherwise, there might be useful suggestions such as closing a few military bases, curbing govt spending, living within their means etc. What we have today is the same rhetoric after 9/11 of telling the people to go shopping or the terrorists have won. Now it's becoming politically incorrect to describe the reality of what's been happening as being negative and that the economy might overhear and chuck a hissy fit or something. Suddenly 'neo-conservatives' have been replaced with 'neo-liberals' rhetoric. I'd never heard of a neo-liberal for the last decade but there they were quietly underming our economy all that time, who'd a thunk it? It's all a bunch of brainwasing hype to keep the status quo. People are easier to control when they're debt burdened and amused with their consumables or in China's case occupied with manual labour making the consumables.
