If the government continues to print money by the trillions isn't there a fear that the dollar won't be worth anything? I guess that would require forward thinking - which is tough right now since there are so many good college basketball teams playing.

I can't tell you how surprised I am to read a blurb from Andrew Leonard that actually has some good economic thoughts in it. He actually warns that this latest move by the Fed could be a dangerous one (as if all their other moves were not).

To say the dollar is going to weaken is the understatement of the new century. It is going to more than weaken, it's going to fall off the cliff, and when it does, watch out. Imagine our economy with high prices? Ouch.

Use overwhelming force, have a clear exit strategy, only go to war as a last resort. I don't see how the Powell Doctrine was followed at all, at any time, by Dubbya.

...might have been "The Fed goes African on the economy". As in Zimbabwe. I mean really. What they're talking about amounts to paying off one credit card with another, which is generally one of the final strategies employed right before declaring bankruptcy.

It's also suspiciously close to another tactic that might net you or I some jail time if we attempted it -- check kiting.

Unfortunately, we had to resort to Shock and Awe in order to prevent to spread of WMDs (Weapons of Mass Deveraging). Now all the amazed Iraqi (oops, I mean) American consumers will lay down their savings weapons and return to their docile debtor ways. We will not tolerate the jihadist, deleveraging, saver terrorists! They are threatening our American way of life!!

Thank our Christian God that Rambo Ben, W and Obama are troops fighting for our liberties and most cherished institutions. They need to be given all the support possible and more. Anything less would be unpatriotic.

One rational reason for the Fed to begin doing its best to inflate the dollar would be if they expect deflation to accelerate in the near future. I wonder if this means Geithner et al are finally about to close down our insolvent zombie banks like Citi, which would kick off a massive debt unwinding?

That might seem like a silly question, but is the Fed buying newly printed Treasuries with that freshly printed money? Or is it buying up old T-bills? If so, who is it buying them from?

In case you are not seeing what I am getting at: If the Fed is buying up newly issued T-bills then that suggests that no-one else wants them in that volume - cue higher interest rates on government debt, and everything else.

If the Fed is buying up old T-bills, then it is buying up more expensive debt that the Treasury would otherwise have to service, thus reducing the amount that the Treasury shells out in interest, freeing up more money for what ever else the Treasury wants/needs to buy and/or bail out.

Anyone know which they are buying???