Conceding that their grip on the economy is slipping, central bankers are proposing a radical economic reset that would shift yet more power from government to themselves.
© Ben Garrison / grrrgraphics.com
Central bankers are acknowledging that they are out of ammunition. Mark Carney, the soon-to-be-retiring head of the Bank of England, said
in a speech at the annual meeting of central bankers in August in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, "In the longer-term, we need to change the game." The same point was made by Philipp Hildebrand, former head of the Swiss National Bank, in
an August 2019 interview with Bloomberg
. "Really there is little if any ammunition left," he said. "More of the same in terms of monetary policy is unlikely to be an appropriate response if we get into a recession or sharp downturn."
"More of the same" meant further lowering interest rates, the central bankers' stock tool for maintaining their targeted inflation rate in a downturn. Bargain-basement interest rates are supposed to stimulate the economy by encouraging borrowers to borrow (since rates are so low) and savers to spend (since they aren't making any interest on their deposits and may have to pay to store them). But
over $15 trillion in bonds are now trading globally at
negative interest rates, yet this radical maneuver
has not been shown to measurably improve economic performance. In fact
new research shows that negative interest rates from central banks, rather than increasing spending, stopping deflation, and stimulating the economy as they were expected to do, may be having the opposite effects. They are being blamed for squeezing banks, punishing savers, keeping dying companies on life support, and fueling a potentially unsustainable surge in asset prices.
Comment: Trump is irate at the US central bank for its apparent attempt to induce economic recession in time for next year's election season, while the banksters are maneuvering to thwart all such 'economic nationalist' leaders by formalizing their decades-long encroachment on all key areas of government. So there's a lot more to Trump's Twitter attacks against Fed chairman Jay Powell than meets the eye...
Brown is right; the banksters are correct that monetary policy ought not be separated from fiscal or overall government policy... but the obvious solution in that case is for the banksters to give up their faux 'independence' and return the issuance of money from the shadows to open national oversight.
Instead, they're moving in to take it
all...
Comment: Since this was written, Netanyahu was defeated and Benny Gantz of the Blue and White party will need to form a coalition to take power in Israel. Sadly, nothing Gilad has said above will change.