Zero

The US Federal Reserve slashed their target short-term lending rate to a range of 0.0 percent to 0.25 percent and signaled the beginning of an era of "quantitative easing" where the central bank will buy a wide variety of assets to support the struggling U.S. economy. That means that the Fed is desperate enough to lend out money for free.

With a slight paraphrase of what noble prize Paul Krugman wrote recently : what's the use of pushing on a thread ? And we have known for ages that you can take a horse to the water but that you cen't make it drink.

The economic future looks very bleak indeed. Or pitch black, whichever image suits you.

Where are all those would be financial geniuses who put us in this mess in the first place ? Still cleaning the sh** out of their pants after the rough ride of the last couple of months ? Or counting what remains of the substantial fortunes they amassed at our expense ?

Free markets indeed !