Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is in a rough spot these days. When he lowers interest rates, the specter of stagflation is raised. When he rescues Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC) from potential bankruptcy by brokering a sale to JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), he's chided for guaranteeing billions in private subprime loans with public money.

Of course, if he did nothing, I'm sure he'd be blasted for turning a blind eye as the nation spirals into recession.

Bernanke's problem is that he's tasked with fixing long-term problems with a short-term tool kit. We folks on Main Street leveraged ourselves into homes we couldn't afford while the folks on Wall Street gladly financed us. Greed and irrational exuberance drove both sides for the better part of this decade. Now that the bubble has burst, Bernanke is forced to try to minimize the damage.

Unfortunately for Ben, no one person, even with the strength of the government behind him, has the power to elicit anything more than a temporary shrug from the U.S. economy.

Enter Buffett
Well, there's one more thing we can do: We can learn from Warren Buffett and his stewardship of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A). Buffett had already learned from the mistakes of others to avoid bubbles in the first place. He was fearful when others were greedy. We should follow his lead.

Back during the Internet bubble, despite charges that he was a dinosaur who couldn't adapt his investing

Spending on remodeling is expected to reach $316 billion this year alone and the number is still climbing, according to the Home Improvement Research Institute. So make sure you know exactly how big a renovation you can afford and whether it justifies the time you intend to spend in your revamped home.

The Nest, a home-improvement Web site, says before making any big changes to your home you should ask yourself these big questions:

1. How long do I plan to stay in my house after the renovations? The longer you plan to live there, the more creative you can be. But if you're planning on selling the house in the next five years, keep potential buyers in mind with your choices. In the latter case, for instance, go with neutral colors in the kitchen and bathroom, and consider maple cabinets. Some people hate oak, others hate cherry, but the majority can live with maple.

2. Am I doing just cosmetic fixes or am I ready for an all-out overhaul? It's OK to make small changes one at a time, but think long-term about the next step. For example, if you're buying a new sink, buy one with enough holes on the deck for the faucet, sprayer and soap dispenser you might want to add on later. (Cutting more holes into stainless steel or porcelain after the sink is installed is an onerous job you don't want to get stuck with.) And if you know you're going to buy new cabinets later, don't replace the countertop with expensive granite now. The chances of reusing it are very slim -- either it breaks

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Yahoo Inc. is surrendering some of its advertising space to Internet search leader Google Inc. in a test that appears designed to frustrate Yahoo's unsolicited suitor, Microsoft Corp.

The experiment announced Wednesday will allow Google to place ads tied to about 3 percent of the queries made in the United States through Yahoo's search engine -- the Internet's second largest after Google's.

Without specifying a start date, Yahoo said the Google tests will last for up to two weeks.

The Sunnyvale-based company said it hasn't decided to join the thousands of other Web sites that rely on Google to handle most of the text-based advertising that is tied to search requests or their other content.

The possibility of Yahoo working with the Internet's most profitable company throws a new twist into its efforts to evade Microsoft or extract a higher offer.

Yahoo insists it's worth more than the initial bid of $44.6 billion, or $31 per share, that Microsoft made more than two months ago.

But Microsoft hasn't budged and recently threatened to lower the bid unless Yahoo capitulates by April 26.

In a statement Wednesday, Microsoft reiterated its belief that the current bid is fair and questioned