Economics is a highly sophisticated field of thought that is superb at explaining to policymakers precisely why the choices they made in the past were wrong. About the future, not so much.

The basic prescription for preventing deflation is therefore straightforward, at least in principle: Use monetary and fiscal policy as needed to support aggregate spending, in a manner as nearly consistent as possible with full utilization of economic resources and low and stable inflation. In other words, the best way to get out of trouble is not to get into it in the first place.

I don't think that Chinese ownership of U.S. assets is so large as to put our country at risk economically.

The lesson of history is that you do not get a sustained economic recovery as long as the financial system is in crisis.

A collapse in U.S. stock prices certainly would cause a lot of white knuckles on Wall Street. But what effect would it have on the broader U.S. economy? If Wall Street crashes, does Main Street follow? Not necessarily.

How much would you pay to avoid a second Depression?

A money-financed tax cut is essentially equivalent to Milton Friedman's famous 'helicopter drop' of money.