Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is poisoning the U.S. economy by keeping interest rates low, which will help in the short-term but ultimately jack up inflation rates in just a couple of years, says Andy Xie, former chief Asian economist at Morgan Stanley.

A worldwide financial crisis will erupt in 2012, as low borrowing costs will fuel inflation and pump up asset bubbles, Xie told Bloomberg.

“There is a Chinese saying that one could quench the thirst by drinking poison,” says Xie, who predicted in September 2006 that the U.S. economy would fall into a recession in 2008.

“Bernanke seems to be prescribing exactly this to the U.S. economy. The slower Bernanke raises interest rates, the bigger the next crisis.”

Bernanke has made it clear the Fed will not raise interest rates until the economy is clearly gaining steam.

While the United States emerges from a recession, high unemployment rates and tight credit continue to dampen recovery.

“We still have some way to go before we can be assured that the recovery will be self sustaining,” Bernanke said recently, according to the Associated Press.

“Right now we are still looking at the extended period, given that conditions remain, low rate utilization ... and stable inflation expectations, that remains where we are now.”