A must read piece by Arthur Laffer, about the irresponsible live experimentation regarding our money supply.

Here’s the key segment:

“About eight months ago, starting in early September 2008, the
Bernanke Fed did an abrupt about-face and radically increased the
monetary base — which is comprised of currency in circulation, member
bank reserves held at the Fed, and vault cash — by a little less than
$1 trillion. The Fed controls the monetary base 100% and does so by
purchasing and selling assets in the open market. By such a radical
move, the Fed signaled a 180-degree shift in its focus from an
anti-inflation position to an anti-deflation position.

The
percentage increase in the monetary base is the largest increase in the
past 50 years by a factor of 10 (see chart nearby). It is so far
outside the realm of our prior experiential base that historical
comparisons are rendered difficult if not meaningless. The
currency-in-circulation component of the monetary base — which prior
to the expansion had comprised 95% of the monetary base — has risen by
a little less than 10%, while bank reserves have increased almost
20-fold. Now the currency-in-circulation component of the monetary base
is a smidgen less than 50% of the monetary base. Yikes!”