How do we have a conversation like this Travis?
I show with Bernake’s own words how he described it as an effective response to a hypothetical deflation, but one of “several options” that were more “preferred” and should not be done “willy-nilly”. But you say I told you it was “just a flippant off-the-cuff remark, picked at random, a little ad-lib in that famously light-hearted setting”. You did to me what you did Bernake. I think you need a vacation Travis.
Every syllable in Bernanke's 2002 Fed speech was parsed to the Nth degree. To speak of printing presses and "helicopter money" was deliberate. You can try to ignore the intent of those remarks, the world will not.