When this whole mess started in 2008 the printing hadn't begun. Now the printing is pretty much ending and the globe remains in a so-called new normal state. A twilight zone half awake half yet slumbering. This in part at least explains the new, sudden Fed interest to prime the market for rate hikes. Not just one but several. At this level a 2008 debacle with a bare monetary policy cupboard is more than scary. This is heads-rolling territory for the Lords of Eccles.
The Fed for all it's dot-plot data collecting is a lagging indicator. As someone noted in a piece we read about Deustche Bank's troubles, they have had the wind at their back--record low rates, low energy prices, weak currency--for some time and Germany still can't grow. The largest economy in the EU, so what does that say for Europe? Japan is another case in point.
Growth in the U.S. depending on whom one tends to believe is still more imaginary than real. If jobs recovery were an item on a menu they'd be under appetizers. So to see real growth Magic Mario's "Whatever it takes" becomes:What the hell will it take? One sure answer is not more of the same monetary madness. And that's what the current leader of this band of central banking cretins just tossed into the possibility circle--purchasing equities. And why not, we've seen its promise in Japan and Switzerland.
Today's Financial Times offers a pathetic defense of the Yellen-led Fed, "Trump's mudslinging puts the Fed in danger," for claiming the Fed is politically driven. The first tip off is the writer's praise for Yellen's predecessor, Ben Bernanke, the former Princeton professor who is now drawing, par for the course of ex-government officials, his seven-figure paycheck somewhere else.
"Moreover," the Times notes, "his policies have been continued more or less seamlessly by Ms Yellen, the Democrat who took over from Mr Bernanke. For lawmakers to criticise the Fed's approach is one thing: as long as they do not seek to impinge on its independence, that is entirely legitimate. To fling around accusations of political bias, however, is something else altogether."
There's an old saying about leave sleeping dogs alone, not so much because of the inherent danger but to not disturb their pleasant dreaming. These are hardly empty accusations being carelessly flung around with this administration and its record the last eight years. See the IRS, the BLS and the FBI when you leave the safe chrysalis of your twilight zone, to name just a few. Even much of the Fed's own research fed to MSM often has proved tainted, to use a kinder, gentler term.
The Times take a convenient out, labeling anyone who differs with their view a Republican or a Trump supporter. But riddle us this: Given what we've seen from this Washington crowd why would the Fed be an oasis of purity in an ocean of corruption? Apparently, the Financial Times editorial board believes contagion is a term that applies only to financial markets. This is Washington. And unfortunately, there's a place called Brussels,too.
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