The Obama Restoration

Maybe Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was right all along. If you print enough money to boost the U.S. stock market, people won't care how you do it as long as they feel wealthier. At least that's the impression China's President Hu Jintao might take home with him.

Hu is departing in the afterglow of one of the most cordial Washington meetings of a Chinese leader in years. After shrugging off a few pointed questions about human rights Hu told the U.S. press corps China was neither an economic superpower or a military threat to the world and everyone seemed ok with that. President Obama backed him up, declaring that China's "peaceful rise is good for the world, and that it's good for America." After two weeks of tension and debate about the undervalued yuan, China's giant trade surplus and the surprise disclosure of its stealth fighter jet just seemed to fade into the mist.

Was the shadowy Fed behind the good feelings? Maybe.