I was just listening to NPR's Marketplace, and perked up my ears when someone (who turned out to be James Grant of Grant's Interest Rate Observer) said, "Bernanke ... is in the business of price fixing." I knew it would be interesting, and paid closer attention.

Sure enough, things got a little hot in the NPR studios. Grant was explaining how there were two possible interpretations of the current market outlook: either we're in more danger of inflation, or in more danger of an economic slowdown. The Fed's behavior reflects its (and most importantly, chairman Ben Bernanke's) belief that the danger of inflation is great. Grant isn't so sure, he said: "It might just be the Fed is misinformed."

Yikes! Host Kai Ryssdal asked for clarification, saying Grant's analysis sounded "scary." So Grant dropped the bomb. "If, instead of the very important-sounding phrase 'central banker' you were to substitute the phrase 'government worker,' would you be a little less surprised of the possibility that the Fed could be misinformed?" Now them's fighting words, Grant. Not that any of us (or you, dear readers) seem to disagree ...