In April 2008, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe was miffed. The country’s central bank governor, Dr. Gideon Gono, produced its first quarter monetary policy statement by reminding anyone who might read it that his actions were being duplicated the world over. Apparently still smarting over criticism by his central bank peers, Dr. Gono, an honorary degree, was more disturbed by [...]
Argentina’s election is more complicated than simple economics, but for the first time in a very long time there will be no Peronist in office. It may have been billed as a contest between the candidate of the market and that of the state, but either would have found the same bottom opening up on the nation. As so many [...]
Monetarism, at its core, is relatively quite simple. It would have to be, standing upon ground of nothing much more than generic concepts for almost every important economic factor. But all of it can be distilled into the idea of money supply; given “enough”, the economy will thrive. That view includes some of the worst of conditions so long as [...]
By all meaningful measures, credit markets today aren’t any different than they were after the first “dollar” wave crested and subsided. Despite all that has transpired all over the place in 2015, this resiliency is worrisome. No matter how much commentary wishes it to be a comforting tool of monetary policy adjusting into economic salvation, the fact that these indications [...]
The problem with Brazil is that its central bank has done everything the monetary textbook requires of it. Setting aside that Banco itself is a literal mishmash of public and private interests (what central bank isn’t?), the freefall in the Brazilian economy of late is simply puzzling to the mainstream. Unlike the US or Europe, at least the descent is [...]
The Fed has many problems with its attempt to convince the world that it has itself fulfilled its recovery mission. That self-reflected “mandate” is meant to include a masterful revisit to prior American infatuation with debt and credit. There was no more visible and visceral demonstration of those terms than the middle 2000’s, and it is the intent of monetary [...]
Following up from yesterday’s nod toward monetary policy irrationality, the “relevant” markets today continue to profess their concurrence with it all categorized in that manner. I’m not just critiquing the readings of economists at the Fed and their conditional responses, I’m stating unequivocally that the entire affair, and all in it, has been reduced to pure farce. That starts squarely [...]
The federal funds rate holds no relevance to anything actually useful and meaningful. That has been the case for some time, though pinning down exactly when federal funds became irrelevant is a bit of chore (I personally view it when altering Regulation M in 1990 created a regulatory par with eurodollars). Even the FOMC admits how actual finance has passed [...]
Since October 15, gold, yen and Swiss francs have all been pummeled by what increasingly looks like a “dollar” repeat from the start of Q3. It is difficult to suggest whether there is any shift in safe haven bid in all three, but I would guess, as with Q3, it may not have mattered as the “dollar” function globally has [...]
The poor and impoverished state of the world is no true wonder given those that have claimed for themselves the “duty” of exceedingly routine disruption and wholesale distrust of markets in favor of their own very narrow interests and abilities. These are the people that give us such incompetence passing as expert and "useful" central planning: https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/666301870521102336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Nothing like another [...]
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