If you’re only looking at the headlines from the past 48 hours, there is something major going on. First, on Friday afternoon Bloomberg reported that the G-7 finance chiefs are planning to discuss inflation as prices soar and the Financial Times followed on Saturday about the U.S. Democrats pushing the Federal Reserve for tougher action against inflation. These two stories are everything that we at NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND have been discussing since the Dems’ poor election showing last month.
The White House polls — and thus the political operatives — reflected that inflation concerns were going to be the biggest issue for all Democrats in 2022, which is why there was a sense of urgency to use SPR and release oil to drive headline energy costs down. It’s the classic political ploy to appear to be doing something. What’s next? Wage and price controls?
Every G-7 or G-20 meeting homage is paid to the idea of free markets via the market driven value of each nation’s currency. This is hogwash of the highest order in the world of central bank asset purchase programs. The clarion call is that QE is a domestic-based program meant to meet the inflation target set by the nation’s policy makers and any impact on a nation’s currency is just unintended consequences of keeping a country out of a potential disinflationary cycle. Every central bank statement except the U.S. has a sentence or two about the relative value of a nation’s currency and if too strong then concern about a strong currency being a headwind in meeting the illusion and capriciousness of that 2% inflation target.
On Monday, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said the G-7 will be holding a video conference Tuesday, which will include all the central bankers. What is on the agenda? It has not been announced so we are left to GUESSING. The Swap LINES have been opened, massive asset purchase programs are in place, new facilities have been created and fiscal stimulus is raining down in all the old familiar places. The OIL agreement is in place and the FED has even embarked on a program of exchanging CASH for high yield bond ETFs in an effort to prevent a continued negative feedback loop in corporate debt markets. What is there for the G-7 to discuss?
The other day I called question to the tepid G-7 statement, which was followed by a 50 basis point CUT from the Federal Reserve. On Thursday the Financial Times published a story saying the Fed’s move was counter to a history of G-7 collaboration. Let us first dissuade the popular mythology of the G-7 as relevant to any serious global action. The colonial remnants of the authority of the bailiwick of the mechanism for the containment of the Soviet Empire are a JOKE. During the financial crisis it was the moves made by China that did more to stabilize global growth than any action by the G-7.
There is no doubt little organisms can wreak havoc in ways that blowhards could never imagine. People are trying to assess the financial impact by looking at previous pandemics. This is flawed analysis because each pandemic is different depending on the global circumstances and the morass for incubation. During the Cold War people did not move freely so political containment acted as a drag on the spread of disease.
These Simon and Garfunkel lyrics could apply to the events of this past weekend, the bookends of Jackson Hole and the G-7 meeting. The meaning was best summed up i a Financial Times story that quoted St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, who said, “Something is going on ,and that’s causing I think a total rethink of central banking and all our cherished notions about what we think we’re doing. We just have to stop thinking that next year things are going to be normal.”
John Maynard Keynes’ critical theory said in times of uncertainty economic actors tend to save more, which leads to a negative feedback loop that slows the economy as demand shrinks. This is why governments need to increase fiscal stimulus to boost demand. It’s too bad that President Trump doesn’t exercise the paradox of thrift when it comes to WORDS. Let there be no mistake: We at NOTES have been expecting a response from Trump like this.
On June 6, I had a discussion with the Financial Repression Authority host Richard Bonugli and the highly respected Ronni Stoeferle. We covered myriad of global financial and political concerns as we tried to provide the foundation for profitable opportunities via in-depth analysis of these fragilities.
I am posting a new FRA podcast that was recorded May 24 with Richard Bonugli. We cover many important topics, including the rise of Bitcoin as an investable product. As I have said often, I need to learn more about crypto-currencies and their impact on the global financial system. Unlike Ben Bernanke, I understand GOLD but am seeking to understand BITCOINS. I am striving to learn the workings of the block chain mechanism and relying on the wisdom of one of favorite readers and supporters American Limey.
The G-7 left us wondering about the substance and Janet Yellen was more dovish than the headlines revealed. Chair Yellen raised the issue of increasing rates “in the coming months” and more importantly she invoked the idea of “social justice” in the role of economics. For three years I have discussed that Janet Yellen is a moral philosopher and in that mindset would be far more likely to allow WAGES to rise faster before moving to raise interest rates to slow the economy. I have no problem with the idea of a labor economist erring on the side of desiring an increase in wages in an effort for labor to claw back some advantage from KAPITAL. My question: Are market’s misjudging Chair Yellen in this regard and therefore mispricing risk? This issue will not disappear and needs to be put into the equation of interest rates rising sooner than later. There will be more to follow in regards to Janet Yellen’s invoking of the social basis of her mentor, Professor James Tobin. Enjoy the weekend and think about those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms we so value and allows for social media to provide the free flows of thought.
Click on the image to watch me and Rick discuss the ways in which the central banks have distorted the debt markets.
Click on the image above to watch my interview with Financial Repression Authority.
