“I got up this early to talk, not to listen,” Jim Grant berates Fed-apologist Steve Liesman as the two go head-to-head over the fallacy that QE has been a success. “The Fed can change how things look, it cannot change what things are,” is the single-sentence summation of the mirage that the Fed’s “dangerous monetary manipulation” has created.
Arguing that Grant is wrong because, as we saw this morning with CPI, there is no inflation, Grant blasts back pointing to the massive inflation in asset prices, art, farmland, ferraris as indicative of who the Fed’s policies have helped. Grant adds to the list of obvious bubbles and even Joe Kiernan jumps in on his side against Liesman’s insistence that the Fed is omnipotent (because the currency hasn’t crashed… yet).
150 seconds of perfect disequilibrium at the pretense of central planning…
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And, as we noted previously, here’s why…“The Rich Hold Assets, The Poor Have Debt”
This chart from Citi’s Matt King pretty much sums it up (and contrary to what Magic Money Tree growers will tell you, debt is not wealth).
Why is it important? Simple – contrary to the Fed’s flawed DSGE models, it is the poor who are more likely to consume. And logically with their purchasing power being funneled to the rich with every $85 billion in monthly debt monetization, they purchase less and less. As the slow but steady contraction in the economy over the past five years has proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
But hey: at least Hamptons’ houses have never been more expensive and the Russell2000 keeps on hitting daily all time highs. Thank you “wealth effect.”
