Just when you thought we’d reached the Pauline Minimum with respect to elite thinking on the U.S. economy, Fed Reserve head choreographer of cliff diving Ben Bernanke speaks again:

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday that the central bank is prepared to provide additional stimulus if the current economic lull persists.

Delivering his twice-a-year economic report to Congress, Bernanke laid out three options the central bank would consider. One possibility, he said, was another round of Treasury bond buying. That would make the third such effort since 2009.

Later on, Bernanke says, “We have to keep all options on the table.” Oh no, not The Table again. Depend upon it, whenever someone in government speaks of things on the table, it means the private sector is about to get socked again.