The US has not spiralled into inflation as so many feared. The Fed's measure of core PCE inflation (without food and energy) has dropped to 1.1pc, close to the post-Lehman trough, and too low for comfort. Mr Bernanke has surely taken a risk tapering into this deflation downdraft, and may live to regret it. The Fed may be underestimating the sheer force of the deflationary wave spreading through the global economy from China as the country invests $4 trillion each year, much of it in factories and industrial plant.