The theoretical foundation for ZIRP goes back to the Depression, when Keynes asserted that the normal forces of supply and demand could no longer reach automatic equilibrium.
Bernanke will persist in his ZIRP policy to prop up politically connected economic zombies, and official Washington will do everything possible to prevent a needed economic restructuring from taking place.
One way to visualize the damage from ZIRP is to recognize that the spread between real and nominal interest rates is analogous to the spread between rates on default-free and risky debt.
With Bernanke and Co. pledging to keep buying bonds until the end of June and also to maintain ZIRP (zero interest rate policy) for as long as there is any threat at all of deflation, traders knew exactly what to do.