Courtesy of Mish.
Without providing a link, ZeroHedge posted some comments today regarding “Helicopter Drop Theory” by Willem Buiter, Citibank’s Chief Economist.
Willem Buiter on Failure of Monetary Policy
We believe that a common factor in the relatively low response of real economic activity to changes in asset prices and yields is probably the fact that the euro area remains highly leveraged. The total debt of households, non-financial enterprises and the general government sector as a share of GDP is higher now than it was at the beginning of the GFC.
The wealth effect of higher stock prices appears to do little to boost private consumer expenditure.
To the extent that monetary policy has had an effect on real activity, and will have some incremental effect on activity, it may not be entirely sustainable. This is because part of the effect has been by bringing forward demand from the future, such as major purchases, including for cars or construction. That suggests that monetary policy, even if and when it has been effective in stimulating activity, will run into diminishing returns even in sustaining the levels of activity it helped to boost.
Economic Illusions vs. Reality
I wholeheartedly agree with every point made above by Buiter. Actually, things are far worse than he stated. The problem is not just in Europe, but everywhere.
With their deflation-fighting tactics, central banks have accomplished five things, none of them any good.
- Brought demand forward at the expense of future GDP
- Encouraged more leverage
- Increased speculation in financial assets
- Created bubbles in equities and bonds
- Mistook economic activity for what much of it really is: malinvestment
The solution is not more craziness, but rather an admission that central banks are themselves the source of the problem.
Of course Keynesian fools would never admit such a thing. Instead they promote more and more of what common sense and history proves cannot work.
Willem Buiter Proposes Helicopter Drop
“Helicopter money drops (what else?)”
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