Raghu Rajan in a blog post and Project Syndicate column titled Money Magic raises the other important issue with respect to low interest rates. The first, as I have been harping on, is that cheap money for banks is hurting the economic recovery by the resurgence of a new bubble in commodities that lowers discretionary income. Arguing in the same manner as Bill Gross that extended low interest rates work as a tax on savers, especially elderly risk averse bond holders, and thus reduce their income without providing any positive economic impact in return. Companies are sitting on cash and individuals are still deleveraging. Just goes to show what a confused mess we are in. I know why don't we borrow the money from ourselves, or just conjure it up like the banks, and invest it by providing public goods, jobs, training and infrastructure improvements and the basis for long term growth. Wait we can't do that the debt ceiling is falling, never mind the fragile recovery of the economy or our faltering ecological system.
2017: We'll Pretend You Haven't Been
Hello and Happy Christmas Writing to you this year from Cheltenham via Avebury were in addition to the largest megalithic stone circle in the world the pagans were out in force playing drums and praying to stones it was in the local parlance(probably not)-massive! Topping off the trip, nearby Silbury Hill stands as the largest man-made mound in Europe comparative in height and volume to the roughly contemporary Egyptian pyramids-in England! Speaking of piles of ummm dirt, 2017 was once again full of them in the news. Still despite the many backward, ill informed, neonationalist, greedy, intolerant, misogynist types in the world, plenty of progress was apparent. Even in Saudi Arabia, were in addition to other reforms, women can now drive cars by themselves-how 21st century! While the public policy response to the real eminent threats from climate related disasters like hurricanes, forest fires and drought serve as reminder that we are all sharing the same planet and need to do bett...
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