Tag Archives: Mervyn King
Brexit: Britain bows to its historic adversaries
Is there any comparable case of a great country voluntarily, without any need to do so, placing itself at the mercy of its historical adversaries? That is what the UK has done. Britain’s future is now at the disposal of the remaining countries of the European Union. After being weakened by the results of the…
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Are the chances of real reform improving?
In The Money Trap, I argue that our problems result from the way in which we have applied a particular concept of money – the state theory of money. This dominated government policy in the 20th century. As Keynes said, all modern money is state money – it is seen as a creature of…
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Wolf of the City
Martin Wolf’s recent radio programme – “How Low can Rates Go?” – described and illustrated the dilemmas facing monetary policy-makers. Nine years from the start of the great financial crisis, Wolf reported, economies had still not returned to “normal”. Capitalism was perceived by many to be failing to deliver; globalisation a con trick. The political…
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Mervyn King’s alarmist warning
According to the World Gold Council, Mervyn King, former governor of the Bank of England, believes that in certain circumstances China’s assets in the US could be “annulled”. Mervyn King’s alarmist warning is made in an interview, entitled “Present perilous, future imperfect” that appears in the June issue of Gold Investor, a WGC publication. After pointing…
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My take on Mr Carney
I have written elsewhere about Mr Carney’s first 5 months (subscription) at the Bank of England. I showed that in terms of the goals he was set by the UK Treasury (both those stated and those unstated but implicit in his appointment), he has made remarkable progress – with luck playing a part. The UK economy has…
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How central banks undermine the market economy
The risks and dangers for the global economy are like hidden reefs for a ship – invisible but deadly. It is quite possible, for example, that expansionary US monetary policy can cause an asset boom in China so large that its collapse would bring the Chinese economy down with it – and thus throw the…
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Is “The Money Trap” too radical?
The most common response I have had to the proposals made in my book for a new banking system and global monetary reform is that they are too radical, too ambitious, and won’t happen. When I ask such critics (who are usually of a friendly disposition) what are they suggesting, they usually reply that slow…
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Might the US champion reform?
A few years ago, there was much excitement amongst monetary reformers when the governor of the People’s Bank of China made a speech championing reform. But China did not follow up that initiative – indeed, officials downplayed it, saying that Governor Zhou had been speaking in a personal capacity. Then came President Nikolas Sarkozy, who…
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Bury inflation targets and get a real monetary framework
To wean central banks from inflation targeting you’ll have to snatch it from them by force; they are clutching it ever more tightly to their breasts. But they must bid it a tearful goodbye. The big question is what will replace it. Mark Carney has said that: “Flexible inflation targeting is the most successful…
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The Fed at 100
The Federal Reserve Act was signed into law by President Wilson on December 23 1913. Its purposes were “To provide for the establishment of Federal reserve banks, to furnish an elastic currency, to afford means of rediscounting commercial paper, to establish a more effective supervision of banking in the United States, and for other purposes.”…
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