Well, you know things are in the crapper when you get the
Chairman of the Federal Reserve still talking about instituting quantitative easing (QE) (i.e. "printing money" to buy bonds to ease pressure on banks). When rates are bottomed out and things still aren't on the mend, this is more or less a last ditch effort to kick-start the economy.
It is, of course, not without its risks. The biggest, namely, is inflation.
If you paid attention, you will have noticed that stocks have had their best September since the Great Depression—and this despite a rocky economy—in addition to gold being at its highest value ever. It is hoped that the QE will push both stock and gold with the benefit being that profits will be made (i.e. taken) and reinvested elsewhere thus bolstering the overall economy.
However, the risk is that they're printing money—expanding the money supply. This could put further downward pressure on the American dollar. More money supply = lower unit value. Plus, it could cause people to sell off their U.S. currency holdings further reducing its value. The net effect? Inflation. The worst-case scenario? Hyperinflation. The dollar has already lost value based on Bernanke's speculations.
The stock market seems to like it, though. Someone's making money.