@Cycloptichorn,
I put less relaince on poll data than you, and note that the observed trends often have as much to do with the biases of the poll taker as the thing being measured. Moreover the phrase "his polls" is too vague. Even poll results concerning general impressions of Obama and agreement with his policies show considerable variance, with consistently more support for Obama as a person than the political choices, initiatives, and polices he has advanced. In close political contests one can always find polls that "support" your favored outcome.
How do you account for the very large gap between the exit poll data reported in the early stages of the Walker recall election in Wisconsin and the actual vote that resulted? Poll results are generally not precise indicators of the actual behavior of voters in secret ballots.
I suspect the Greeks were much suprised by the sudden collapse of the grossly overleveraged financial position of their government. However, in retrospect, their path to the cliff they fell off was all-too-evident. Same goes with the overcapitalized mortgage bubble in this country. The ongoing financial crisis and sclerotic lack of economic growth in Europe is something that I have been suggesting would occur since I joined ths forum, now eight years ago.
The fact is that we have indeed created the conditions for high inflation, and now ,with a seriously overleveraged governmet, quite unable to financially survive the high interest rates required to limit or contain inflation, potentially helpless to do anything about it when it occurs. This has happened before. History shows that the causes of it are clear enough, but that it is rarely seen or expected by those who fall victim to it. You have provided us all with an excellent example of the mindset required for that kind of folly.
