Absurd: Inflation was too low

Amusing - if it would not be sad - to read that 'prominent' 'star' economists like Barry Eichengreen  still regurgitate the fable of  'too low inflation'. So what is the right level of inflation for these confused thinkers? One shudders to think how many young students get indoctrinated by his kind.

Der Standard (German)

Real Inflation out of control!

You cannot eat your mobile phone or laptop! Inept Central Banks and Politicians bleed us dry!
Cost of living data on essential household items, property, fuel, insurance - Business Insider

ECB blabbering

"Taken together, the ECB's current policy settings are appropriate and are clearly providing the support required to sustain the recovery," Coeure said, adding that support will stay in place "until inflation is sustainably adjusting to our objective."
Well, Benoit Coeure - a signed-up member of the unelected Eurocracy ruling over us and stealing from all hard-working savers in the Eu(rozone) - utters another non-sensical and contradictory statement.
What does he mean by 'recovery'? it probably means economic GROWTH, but then he seems to indicate that inflation is 'their' objective? So would that mean inflation running at 2, 3 or more percent would be 'success', whatever the level of growth?

Crusade against Saving

Taking their cue from 'Saint Maynard' the political and economic 'Elites' that rule Western Societies wage a merciless war against Saving, and by implication against individuals that want to manage their own affairs responsibly. The ulterior motive may be to make people completely dependent on the Welfare states that countless bureaucrats are employed to administer.
Given that most economies sail along at a positive rate of growth - albeit not much above zero - and that inflation/deflation can safely be allowed to fluctuate around the zero mark (plus or minus 2 percent should not mean the end of the world by any stretch of the imagination ) it is not obvious why 'QE a outrance' should be on the policy menu at all.
Has a strange form of hysteria taken hold of Central Bankers and their camp followers in Media, Academia and Politics?
Why would it be morally acceptable to steal from savers and give to borrowers when - for thousands of years - saving was to be held in high esteem and spending/borrowing was to be discouraged?

Are they really stupid at the ECB?

The believe that pushing inflation up to 2 pct will really make one iota of difference to the economic well being of millions of Europeans can only be described as stupid. If anything, workers will be worse off in real terms, as will be savers. So consumption will in all likelihood be on a downward trajectory. With respect to 'structural' reforms, maybe the ECB should first look at itself: what benefit have the people of the Eurozone gained from employing thousands of overpaid jobsworths in the super expensive tower that accommodates them in Frankfurt? Does one notice any difference from when the countries had their own currencies?

PS: Just spotted Bill Gross' opinion about Fed Policy, so I am not alone with my opinion!

Inflation: Chicken or Egg?

The argument that "there is no subtler, no surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency" (J M Keynes, 1921) may well be true. But it still makes one wonder what comes first: the dysfunction of society or the destruction of money. These days one could argue that in a lot of countries it is a mal-functioning political system that leads to desperate measures like Quantitative Easing as cooked up by the Frankenstein economists running the Fed, Bank of England, ECB and Bank of Japan. See also Dylan Grice

Nominal GDP Targeting - Witches Brew

The absurdity of this 'policy' that is the latest mantra propagated by the political and economic policy establishment should be clear at first sight: if an economy is dead in the water all that will happen if any nominal level of GDP is targeted is that the level of inflation is pumped up. No one seems to be interested in explaining why this should have any meaningful - or permanent - influence on real economic activity

Bank of England's Adam Posen: Inflation will be low

Another nuggett of wisdom from the Bank of England's American import. Maybe he also thinks that pigs might fly. It always struck us as more than strange that there was no (more) suitable economist among the UK population.

The ultimate worth of Paper Currencies

In this state of competitive devaluation of all currencies many wonder where this spectacle will lead us to. Above all, people wonder what these 'currencies' are really worth. We can give them the answer: all the fiat paper currencies have a value that can easily be verified - it is the value of the paper they are printed with.

Controlled inflation - solution to debt overhang?

We try to keep economics out of our blog but sometimes we just cannot resist the temptation. The reason why there is a slowly-rising tide of calls for allowing a 'controlled' rise in inflation seems to be that politicians and technocrats seem to see no chance in reversing - or even stopping - the tendency for public (and private) debt to grow. Naturally, reversing a trend that has been going on for the better part of nearly four decades is not achievable in a year or two. So the only way to reduce total indebtedness would be a painful adjustment process lasting many years - much longer than the election cycle in any western democracy. But this is not to say that it would be impossible and it is doubtful whether relying on inflation would mean that the adjustment burden is shared more equally between all groups of the population. One should also not forget that in a closed economy the citizens owe the debt to themselves in aggregate. The problem is that the debtors and the creditors are different people and therefore repayment of the debt means that the debtors carry the adjustment burden.