The following graph provides us with a view of what the Federal Reserve has done over the last three years precipitated by the banking crisis (or disclosure). The crisis did not begin on a particular day but was the inflection point of years of poor monetary management and regulation:
Hard assets such as gold, silver, energy, agricultural land, etc. are the only insurance that I know of to offset this huge amount of money printing. The deficit continues to grow and unfunded obligations are out of sight. The toughness found in depression-era Americans has been lost by attrition. We are heading for the harsh realities soon and will get the opportunity to find out what we are made of.