Federal Reserve Money Printers
There is strong evidence to support Hoenig’s view that the Fed was fueling inflation the whole time. This kind of inflation is called “demand pull” inflation, meaning that the Fed stokes demand, which causes prices to increase. “This process repeats itself; every time this happens the banks are able to purchase the unwanted assets of other market participants, using their money creation powers to do so, backed by their ‘excess reserves” with the Fed. In turn, the Fed purchases these assets in return for providing further increased “excess reserves” to its banks. Monetary policy is a set of actions available to a nation’s central bank to achieve sustainable economic growth by adjusting the money supply. In the modern banking system, the central bank creates monetary reserves and sends those to commercial banks. The stock market was not the only asset that increased in 2020. The price of gold surged to over $2,000 per ounce, hitting a record high. Even Bitcoin participated in the rally, rocketing to over $34,000. Higher levels of debt cause the velocity of money to decline, which is why the countries that I mentioned which have higher levels of debt also have lower levels of velocity, which causes lower long-term interest rates. All seems well today as the asset prices have not fallen but if/when they do, there will be no cash flow to repay the record high levels of debt that have been accumulated. The rise in prices cannot be explained by a few shortages, such as of second-hand cars. During his childhood in Fort Madison, Iowa, Hoenig spent his holiday breaks working at his dad’s small plumbing shop. Hoenig was sent to the back room with a clipboard so he could record the inventory of plumbing parts. If he made a mistake, his dad could find himself short of supplies. After graduating high school, Hoenig served as an artillery officer federal reserve printing money in Vietnam, where he calculated the firing range of mortar shells to ensure they landed near enemy positions rather than on his fellow U.S. soldiers. Hoenig’s upbringing taught him that getting numbers right was a deadly serious job. When he enlisted to fight in Vietnam, he had explained the decision in simple terms to his sister, Kathleen Kelley. This is because of the role of banks and other lending institutions that receive new money. Nearly all of that extra $100 billion enters banking reserves. Banks don’t just sit on all of that money, even though the Fed now pays them 0.25% interest to just park the money with the Fed Bank. Currency in circulation, a direct measure of demand for Federal Reserve notes, increased by 4.0 billion notes or $212.8 billion dollars between June 2020 and June 2021. In contrast, during the same period the previous year, currency in circulation increased by 5.1 billion notes, or $226.3 billion dollars. During his tenure, Strong also elevated the stature of the Fed by promoting relations with other central banks, especially the Bank of England. “The notion of central bank digital currency -based new monetary policy rests on the radical idea of every individual and business in a country having a bank account with its central bank rather than with a commercial bank. Interest on balances in these accounts could be at positive, zero or negative rates. By way of such an account, entities would be able to electronically transact with others, typically using their phones, Paypal, WeChat Pay, credit or debit cards – effectively, a government-underwritten type of bitcoin, on steroids. The government could credit payments, including money its central bank simply “prints”, and debit payments, like for taxes. Everybody knew we had a big hole to crawl out of from the financial crisis and growth was going to be weak for years. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information. All of our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts, who ensure everything we publish is objective, accurate and trustworthy. Screen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. The Federal Reserve is specifically trying to drive down interest rates. For every dollar not paid in interest, there is a saver that is made poorer. To the extent that the Fed is able to reduce interest rates, it transfers money from savers to borrowers. “This points to the importance of communication for the central banking community to explain actions in the modern operating framework,” Hill says. And when the coronavirus crisis came along and Treasury markets started seizing up even more, the Fed’s intervened in a way that would make those operations look like breadcrumbs. On March 12, 2020, the Fed said it would offer $500 billion in a three-month operation. A central bank typically sets the rate on reserves as a floor for its target interest rate. The central bank could buy government bonds and cancel them, or similarly, promise to roll the debt over indefinitely. Either way, the result would be the creation of money at no direct cost to the government. Central banks would purchase those bonds by crediting newly created reserves to the government’s account at the central bank. The government could then use the reserves, which would be a liability of the central bank, to pay for its fiscal programs. Alternatively, the central bank could simply create accounts for the public at the central bank with new money, an idea with growing support. |