People were happily destroying currencies long before anyone thought of loaning the stuff into existence. I think that's the point Bernanke was making when he talked about dropping money from helicopters - there are other inflationary tools than credit available, particularly once you get desperate enough not to care about being subtle.
Will governments, banks, and populaces escalate anti-deflationary measures fast enough? I don't know. Who can? People can carry denial and complacency to insane lengths. Maybe they already have.
I'd argue that anti-deflationary moves thus far in the supercycle have been half-hearted, as follows:
1. The USA government remains divided and ineffectual 2. Japan is still escalating its inflationary efforts 3. Germany has an influential anti-inflationary bias 4. Currency devaluation wars aren't yet heated 5. Debt levels are being treated as manageable or ignored 6. Interest levels are still low 7. Austerity is still the strategy of choice for many 8. Anger remains largely contained 9. Deflation isn't a hot issue for the masses
