Michael B. Duff

The six largest expenditures in the $3.5 trillion 2010 Federal budget:

$687 billion – Social Security
$655 billion – Defense
$564 billion – Unemployment and Welfare Payments
$448 billion – Medicare
$287 billion – Medicaid
$162 billion – Debt service

"Except in select 'hoods like Park Slope and perhaps the Upper West Side, children are viewed as mysterious beings, rarely sighted and only occasionally understood, like pixies or magical small butlers. Until they scream, in which case, they are banished from the palace."

"People are forced to come on the stock market. They believe that after hard currency, the stock market is the only viable option where you can get a bit of a return," he said.

My summary: Stock markets like free money! Gold up $40 overnight. Commodity prices spiking. Inflation completely under control, and anyone who says otherwise is a Tea Party nutjob. Nothing to see here. Also, green shoots!

"Our earlier use of this policy approach had little effect on the amount of currency in circulation or on other broad measures of the money supply, such as bank deposits," Bernanke wrote. "Nor did it result in higher inflation. We have made all necessary preparations, and we are confident that we have the tools to unwind these policies at the appropriate time."