Paul Krugman, 2002 : "To fight this recession the Fed needs more than a snapback; it needs soaring household spending to offset moribund business investment. And to do that ... Alan Greenspan needs to create a housing bubble to replace the Nasdaq bubble." Brilliant idea, mission accomplished, that turned out so well. Maybe the thinking goes something like this: Feed the goose that lays the golden eggs to the people, and hope they vote for you during the feast, before they realize where the meal came from.