According to Bloomberg, Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve have pledged “to keep the main interest rate near zero for an “extended period” and confirmed that emergency measures to prop up the housing market will end as planned this month.”

The Federal Reserve and Treasury have pumped an ungodly amount of money back into the economy, which raises serious concerns about future inflation, but for now, much of that money is stuck in the banks and velocity is extremely low.

So what have some city governments and businesses done to combat this? Well, they’ve decided to print their own money. MSN Money highlights one such example:

The spirit of the season is upon us. With Black Friday and Cyber Monday at our backs, rounding out those holiday wish lists for loved ones will consume the collective American conscious. With all of these efforts brought about by the desire to bring a smile to someone’s face, the wonder and awe of the Christmas season is truly something to be thankful for. But as chestnuts are roasting on my open fire, peppermint snow mocha’s cease to leave my hand and mistletoe is strategically placed around my home, I would be remiss if I failed to do the right thing: confront the deadweight loss of Christmas.

Many people wonder what makes gold special as a store of value. When inflation fears set in, people flock to gold. One answer is that the dollar used to be backed by gold. An even better answer I will leave to Judy Shelton, an economist and director of the National Endowment for Democracy:

As the jobless recovery rhetoric continues by the federal government, many have braced for October unemployment figures in the double digits. The Department of Labor released the latest unemployment data today, confirming those double digit concerns. U.S. unemployment hit 10.2% in October, up from 9.8% in September, the highest since April 1983.

Gold bullion futures touched a record high $1,045 in yesterday’s trading session in New York. If you believe in stock indexes breaking through resistance points, this may be just that for bullion.

Given our huge budget deficits, the United States Treasury department has come up with a brilliant plan to meet the shortfall head on. With hundreds of billions of dollars worth of gold sitting around uselessly in places like Fort Knox, why not cash it in? Thus, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has proposed to sell all U.S. gold reserves to Cash4Gold.com. The super fair and ridiculously balanced Onion News Network reports:

The May numbers are out and the United States lost over 500,000 jobs last month. The Dow Jones may have rebounded some, but every liberal, and most conservatives, will tell you that just affects those evil rich people. Average folks are still losing their jobs despite bailout after stimulus after bailout, etc.

In a preview of my upcoming two part series on the financial crisis, I bring you Peter Schiff.

First things first: choke off supply; take a page out of the OPEC member country’s playbook. The $1,000 Derby juleps will be served in a collection of 99 sterling silver cups this weekend plated in 24-karat gold. A select few of that bunch will feature diamonds encrusted and signatures by Triple Crown-winning jockeys Ron Turcotte, Jean Cruguet and Steve Cauthen. This is a premium pricing model wrapped into a scarcity model.