The Paralysis of the Federal Reserve

Paul Krugman tries to figure out what is going on--why the Federal Reserve has not already pushed its balance sheet to $3 trillion and set a 3% CPI-inflation target:

Self-induced Paralysis: Reading Jon Hilsenrath’s column today, I was initially a bit skeptical about this assertion:

When Japan fell into deflation in the 1990s, Mr. Bernanke, then a Princeton professor, urged the Bank of Japan to set an objective of 3% to 4% inflation. The reason: With interest rates pinned at...