Wednesday , April 24 2024
Home / Mike Norman Economics / Grace Blakely – As another Eurozone recession looms, the failure of austerity is clearer than ever

Grace Blakely – As another Eurozone recession looms, the failure of austerity is clearer than ever

Summary:
The combination of loose monetary policy and tight fiscal policy is making the rich richer and the poor poorer. The sceptics were right. There is now strong evidence that QE works by boosting asset prices. Central bank purchases have a direct impact on bond yields and also encourage investors to rebalance their portfolios towards other assets, such as equities or corporate bonds. The resulting surge in demand for these assets has increased equity prices, depressed corporate bond yields and pushed up real estate values in some cities. In other words, QE has made the wealthy wealthier. Perhaps if states had tried, and failed, to boost output and inflation through expansionary fiscal policy (spending rises and tax cuts), it would have been legitimate for them to attempt a programme

Topics:
Mike Norman considers the following as important:

This could be interesting, too:

New Economics Foundation writes New Economics Podcast: Why is the benefits system failing disabled people

Michael Hudson writes Jill Stein: Splitting the Pro-Imperial Vote

Editor writes In search of radical alternatives

Stavros Mavroudeas writes «Οι καταστροφικές επιπτώσεις της ΕΕ στην Ελλάδα και τους εργαζόμενους» – Στ.Μαυρουδέας ΠΡΙΝ 20-21/4/2024

The combination of loose monetary policy and tight fiscal policy is making the rich richer and the poor poorer.


The sceptics were right. There is now strong evidence that QE works by boosting asset prices. Central bank purchases have a direct impact on bond yields and also encourage investors to rebalance their portfolios towards other assets, such as equities or corporate bonds. The resulting surge in demand for these assets has increased equity prices, depressed corporate bond yields and pushed up real estate values in some cities.

In other words, QE has made the wealthy wealthier. Perhaps if states had tried, and failed, to boost output and inflation through expansionary fiscal policy (spending rises and tax cuts), it would have been legitimate for them to attempt a programme of money creation that boosted asset prices as a last resort. But in the Eurozone, as in the UK, government spending has been squeezed even as central bankers have created trillions of dollars’ worth of new money.

The New Statesman 


Grace Blakely - As another Eurozone recession looms, the failure of austerity is clearer than ever
Mike Norman
Mike Norman is an economist and veteran trader whose career has spanned over 30 years on Wall Street. He is a former member and trader on the CME, NYMEX, COMEX and NYFE and he managed money for one of the largest hedge funds and ran a prop trading desk for Credit Suisse.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *