“[A] U.S. recession caused by the fiscal crisis in Europe would be very costly and could throw millions of Americans out of work.” So says the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a think tank that numbers Pulitzer Prize winning, generally liberal economists Joe Stiglitz and Robert Solow among its advisory board members. This is consistent with the story being put out by the White House. After three years in office, President Obama can’t credibly blame the nation’s economic difficulties on his predecessor—he owns the economy, as we say in Washington—and without George W. Bush to kick around anymore has selected a new villain: Europe. Weakness in our economy is due to squabbling European politicians, any strength to the wisdom of Obama’s policies. Or so administration spokesmen contend.

With U.S. money markets reluctant to perform their traditional role as suppliers of dollars to European banks, those banks were short of dollars to lend to corporations who borrow in the U.S. currency. So all the president’s men heaved a sigh of relief when Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke lowered the rate he charges other central banks for dollars, and those banks lowered the rates they charge commercial banks in their countries for loans. The hope is that this coordinated effort will at least delay an impending financial disaster. In short, the Fed rushed in where the European Central Bank feared to tread.