Certainly overindebted middle class Americans constitute a broad class of people.

FORBES: Occupy Wall Street's Santa Problem

There is some truth in this, but another reason why the policy has failed to boost spending is that overindebted households and firms prefer to save and repay debt.

ECONOMIST: Deflation

Meanwhile Stephen Roach, an economist at Morgan Stanley, worries that, even if the Fed prints masses of money, in a deflationary environment overindebted households may choose to save rather than spend the cash.

ECONOMIST: World economy