The Lieberman plan: "Let them eat dollars."

Many investment funds may be prohibited by charter or regulation from participating in overseas commodity markets, but Senator Lieberman's hedge fund constituents and their wealthy accredited investors are not. The "wealth-holding class" would evade these restrictions quite easily, by funneling money through Connecticut businesses. This would be a growth-enhancing regulation for Stamford.

Meanwhile, retirement funds and retail ETF investors would be stuck with currency-denominated securities, and forced to bear any loss of purchasing power. Infrastructure as an asset class might or might not be a reasonable inflation hedge, as might stock (in the long run, equities are said to pass through inflation), TIPS, or any number of other assets. But that's fundamentally a decision for individuals to make. If infrastructure is a good choice, let the hedge funds buy it. But so long accredited investors (and savvy individuals with direct futures market accounts) have access to commodity exposure, it is inequitable to prevent the beneficiaries of ordinary investment funds from enjoying the same.

The United States economy is suffering the aftermath of poor aggregate investment decisions over a period of many years. Losses will have to be taken on those investments. The "wealth-holding class" responsible for the misdirection of capital will do what it can to shift losses to dispersed and relatively powerless little guys. I'd be glad to see the government take a more active role in addressing America's economic crisis. But most of the proposals out of Washington so far, including this idea from Senator Lieberman, give options to banks and wealthy investors while shoving costs and constraints onto everyone else. Trying to address the "commodity bubble" by restricting so-called speculation is a fool's game. If it's a bubble pop it, if it's a response to real risks, address those. Blaming speculators is like combating global warming by banning thermometers.