Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Chart of the Week: Central Banks 'Print' Mo' Money

No one is hiding in the basement of the New York Fed building with an ancient printing press making dollar bills, but the major central banks are expanding the money supply through their operations as this chart shows:
The US Fed had a big jump in assets compared to GDP when the government decided to bail out big banks. "Quantitative easing" as its termed may continue for the near future further weakening the purchasing power of the dollar. Banks will still be able to borrow dollars from the Fed at a near zero interest rate through the end of 2014. That Open Market Committee decision is music to the ears of Wall Street. The rest of us can just pay more. Want to see a correlation that says a lot? Look at these charts comparing the odds of the Obamatron extending his White House lease and the stock market:
[source: Gary Dorsch, marketoracle.co.uk]