Money For Nothing

Detlev Schlichter: ‘Positive Money’ and the fallacy of the need for a state money producer

"Every injection of new money into the economy, regardless by whom, has to occur at a specific point from where the new money will disperse through a number of transactions. This process must always – from the point of view of a smoothly functioning, uninhibited market economy – lead to disruptions. It can never be neutral and it can certainly never enhance the functioning of the economy, or lead to a better plan-coordination between economic actors. Money injections always lead to arbitrary changes in relative prices, reallocations of resources and redistribution of wealth and income, without ever enhancing the wealth-generating properties of the economy overall." Continue reading →

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Timothy Geithner Accused Of Alerting Banks To 2007 Interest Rate Cut For 2nd Time

"In the summer of 2007, as storm clouds gathered over the world's financial system, then-New York Federal Reserve President Timothy Geithner allegedly informed the Bank of America and other banks about the possibility the U.S. central bank would lower one of its critical interest rates, according to a senior Fed official. Jeffrey Lacker, the head of the Richmond Fed, originally raised the allegation during a Fed conference call in August 2007, and he stuck to his 5-year-old claim against the current U.S. treasury secretary in a statement provided to Reuters on Friday." Continue reading →

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Fed Balance Sheet Hits Record $3 Trillion

"The size of the U.S. Federal Reserve's balance sheet reached a record, Fed data released on Thursday showed, due to the central bank's purchases of Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities that are part of its unconventional policy aimed at supporting economic growth. The Fed's ownership of mortgage bonds guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) totaled $983.2 billion, up from $947.61 billion the previous week. The Fed's holdings of Treasurys totaled $1.697 trillion as of Wednesday, higher than $1.689 trillion the previous week." Continue reading →

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ECB’s Weidmann: pressure on central banks risks FX competition

"Loading central banks with more tasks and pressing them to pursue more aggressive monetary policies could risk a round of competitive devaluations, European Central Bank policymaker Jens Weidmann said on Monday, citing pressure on the Bank of Japan. Weidmann is the latest in a string of policymakers worldwide to warn of the threat of a 'currency war' as central banks pump out cash to support their economies, reducing their value in the process." Continue reading →

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Bernanke urges Congress to lift debt ceiling

"US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Monday urged Congress to raise the nation’s borrowing limit as Democrats and Republicans battle over the federal budget. 'It’s very, very important that Congress take the necessary action to raise the debt ceiling to avoid the situation where the government doesn’t pay its bills,' Bernanke said at a University of Michigan forum. The United States ran up against its current borrowing limit of $16.4 trillion at the end of 2012, but the Treasury says it is using 'extraordinary measures' to extend the limit until late February." Continue reading →

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Themes for 2013: Eight trends to follow in 2013 and beyond.

"Rather than attempt to predict the unpredictable – that is, specific events and price levels – let’s look instead for key dynamics that will play out over the next two to three years. Though the specific timelines of crises are inherently unpredictable, it is still useful to understand the eventual consequences of influential trends. In other words: policies that appear to have been successful for the past four years may continue to appear successful for a year or two longer. But that very success comes at a steep, and as yet unpaid, price in suppressed systemic risk, cost, and consequence." Continue reading →

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Secrets and Lies of the Bailout

"It was all a lie – one of the biggest and most elaborate falsehoods ever sold to the American people. We were told that the taxpayer was stepping in – only temporarily, mind you – to prop up the economy and save the world from financial catastrophe. What we actually ended up doing was the exact opposite: committing American taxpayers to permanent, blind support of an ungovernable, unregulatable, hyperconcentrated new financial system that exacerbates the greed and inequality that caused the crash, and forces Wall Street banks like Goldman Sachs and Citigroup to increase risk rather than reduce it." Continue reading →

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The Trillion Dollar Coin Is a Great Idea!

"Today, unlike in the past, over 150 central banks print money recklessly. The Federal Reserve is surely the worst offender because of the dollar's reserve status. Because nations need dollars to buy oil, officials around the world need to hold dollars. The US can print massively without feeling the immediate result from price inflation. Of course, price inflation happens – and is happening. More is yet to come because US officials have been so reckless. That's why I think the trillion dollar coin idea is a good one. It illustrates the insanity of the modern money system where people accept bits of paper as money simply because they've been printed by the government." Continue reading →

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Switzerland and Britain are now at currency war

"'Everybody is trying to weaken their currency at the same time. The Swiss have got away with it and now the Japanese want to try. The Sandinavians are pulling their hair out. The Turks are cutting rates even though the economy is overheating, and putting in credit controls instead because they don’t want the currency to rise. Policymakers are doing things that if you had suggested four years ago they would have put you in a straitjacket and thrown you in a cell. I don’t rule out anything any longer in this market. Desperate times lead to desperate acts,' said David Bloom, currency chief at HSBC." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSwitzerland and Britain are now at currency war