Wow! Is this fun, or what? We are so lucky, we can scarcely believe it. We’re getting to live through something most people only read about in the history books…a monetary meltdown.
Last week, our own central bank – the US Federal Reserve – announced that it would print up another $600 billion. This will bring the total to $2.3 trillion added in just a bit over 24 months.
Is this crazy? Is it foolish? Is it stupid? Yes! It is all of those things and more – vain, pigheaded, destructive, reckless…
…supply your own adjective!
Intervention on this scale is risky. So, you might expect that the Fed has some sort of computer program – trusted, reliable, tested and proven – that tells it exactly how much money to put into the system via its QE program…and when.
Well, if you think that, you’re dreaming. The Fed has no such computer program. No formula. Not even a theory that will hold up to inspection.
The whole thing is just a willful, dangerous gamble.
And we’re just happy that it is happening now…when we’re still alive to appreciate it.
It’s not everyone who gets to see a genuine, real-life example of hyperinflation…depression…money panic…and currency suicide. We’re going to see them all. At least, we think so…
But we know the risk of a crash is high. Investors are buying stocks as speculations. The Fed’s hot money is not really going to improve the economy. Everyone but Ben Bernanke knows that. Investors are just speculating that it will push up the stock market. They’re gambling too – just like the Fed.
And maybe it will. But it will be temporary. Because the only thing that can push up the stock market in a reliable way is real growth. And you don’t get real growth by running the printing press. If you did, Zimbabwe would be growing faster than China.
No, dear reader, hot money produces hot action in the market. Speculative fever. Bubbles.
…And crashes, of course.
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