by David Kranzler
Investment Research Dynamics
We’re very bullish on gold, which is the anti–paper money, of course, and is underowned by investors around the world. – Paul Singer, Elliot Management Corp
Predictably, the Fed did not raise the Fed Funds rate by a piddly one-quarter of one percent today. It’s not because the economy is crashing – which it is – but because the foundation of the massive, money-printing inflated asset bubble in the U.S. and globally rests on the teetering foundation of zero-percent interest rates.
Negative rates rates presents another dilemma: a western financial system that is completely dysfunctional from over eight years of bombarding the western economies with ZIRP and money printing. At least most of the eastern hemisphere countries have Central Bank lending rates well above zero. China’s is 4.35%; Russia’s is 10.5%.