Mr Bernanke insists that the Fed has the tools to prevent deflation, and will use them if it sees a significant risk, but you got the sense that even this relatively meaningless backstop position will be too much for the Fed's hardliners. Mr Bean might not think loose monetary policy had much to do with the last crisis, but several FOMC members most certainly believe the present bout of it risks sowing the seeds for the next one. Still others think that whatever the Fed now does, policy has reached the limits of its effectiveness.