Worthwhile Reading - Dec 20th Version

Federal Reserve is damned either way as it battles debt and deflation: Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, Telegraph

The age of obligation: Niall Ferguson, FT

Fed Watch: Zero, But Not Quite Quantitative Easing: Tim Duy, Economist's View

So Now We Are Trying To Emulate Japan's Lost Decade?: Yves Smith, nakedcapitalism

Stability is Destabilizing: Randall Wray, TPMCafe

Q Ratio Signals Horrific Market Bottom, CLSA Says. Bloomberg.
Here's the money quote:

The ratio, developed in 1969 by Nobel Prize-winning economist James Tobin, shows the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is still too expensive relative to the cost of replacing assets, said Napier. While the 39 percent drop in the index this year pushed equity prices below replacement cost, history suggests the ratio must sink further as deflation sets in, he said. The S&P may plunge another 55 percent to 400 by 2014, Napier said.