Dear Chairman Bernanke,

I've been in business for more than 25 years and if there's one thing I have learned it's that every real business leader worth a damn has a number.

That's the figure where they throw in the towel and admit defeat. It's the precise instant they acknowledge that they will no longer throw more money at a bad idea. It's the point in time where they seek fresh counsel and new ideas because the pain of staying the course becomes too great.

Chairman Bernanke, what exactly is your number?

You've just announced Operation Twist (again). You're preparing to spend another $267 billion buying long-term securities as part of a plan to keep rates low through 2014.

You position this as a means of stimulating hiring and supporting a flagging economy that needs more support. You counsel that it will spur borrowing and spending.

We all submit that your plan is not working.

Four years and trillions of dollars into this mess, your Fed has taken a buzzsaw to growth estimates, most recently cutting them to 1.9% from 2.4% for this year. If the government multiplier everybody always cites actually worked, our economy should be screaming along at 8% a year or more.

Yet over 6 million people have left the workforce, which makes the most recent 8.2% unemployment mark extremely suspect. Hiring is slowing again. Factory output is dropping and consumer confidence is faltering.

You've said repeatedly that you can create more "accommodative" financial conditions. When announcing the most recent continuation of Operation Twist, you noted using "non-standard" tools.

Like what…exactly and specifically? Our financial sector is still appallingly overleveraged and undercapitalized. Jamie Dimon's traders used "non-standard" tools to supposedly hedge JPMorgan's risks and suffered at least a $2.1 billion loss. The word "non-standard" scares the hell out of me, Mr. Chairman.

I can only wonder if you're waiting for things to get worse before you act as some people suggest. A simple yes or no would go a long way towards calming things down especially in the financial markets.