The Western economies are faced with a critical decision- to pump, pump ,pump money into the credit system and directly into the real economy, or face a deflationary spiral in financed assets of unprecedented proportions. Since we have democratically elected governments, it is really no choice at all, only a question of who gets the biggest and fastest credit for manning the pumps. They want to be seen to pump within "the Republican orthodoxy" as Bill Gross put it, but pump they must and fast. It is widely recognised now that oil is mostly a political straw man, and not the cause of credit failure. But the bigger spiral we are about to enter can be easily avoided with monetary pumping, even with a bit of inflation in unwanted areas. Perhaps Europe will play the martyr and die on their own anti-inflationary sword, but the US definitely will not. The oil/election connection ends in a couple months, then it is down to pumping the real economy. Expect the big miners to recover in anticipation, with outfits like BHP realising that the current strategic purchasing power of huge cash flows and cash reserves will dwindle rapidly (from competitive buyers) as higher world growth takes traction into 2009. Regardless , be sure you remain diversified with ample liquidity or liquid equity holdings if you are heavily or over-weighted in NOT. If we have the unique mining asset, they will come, and not to be late to the party.