"There is little to no data supporting the use of antioxidants to protect against disease," said Toren Finkel, a health professional at the us National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

In 2002 scientists at the John Wayne cancer Institute in Santa Monica, Calif., thought they had finally figured out a way to turn the immune system against the skin cancer.

A stronger case against further fiscal easing comes from Carmen Reinhart of the Peterson Institute.