The U.S. Federal Reserve is in the midst of raising interest rates. By raising the cost of borrowing and making debt (money) more expensive, you control spending thereby controlling inflation.
The United States is currently experiencing the worst inflation crisis in some 40 years. The Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes are the traditional tool in combatting such a problem.
The challenge of inflation is not America’s alone. Across Europe and Asia, global currencies are seeing inflation drive up the cost of food, fuel, consumer goods, and housing. Unlike the United States, however, most countries’ central banks do not have as direct a course to combat inflation as the Federal Reserve.
A combination of demographic and Russian sanction-related inflationary pressures limit most European nations’ abilities to aggressively raise rates. A population as old and quickly aging as Germany or Italy’s is unlikely to see a bounce back in consumer spending once rates return to zero–where they have been for over a decade. This is a move the Europeans copied out of Japan’s playbook, whose nearly 20 years of near-or-at-zero interest rates are likely to be their foreseeable future.
So what does this mean for bond markets? The U.S. has the demographic strength and economic resilience to keep raising its interest rates, while the rest of the world will be forced to continue issuing bonds at or near zero. Which means their bonds, and ability to borrow, will soon become strongly uncompetitive vis-a-vis the United States.
What does this mean for inflation and the US economy writ large? We invite those of you interested to join us on a webinar that will cover these topics and more in depth on June 8th. More information at the sign up link below. Unable to attend the webinar live? No problem. All paid registrants and attendees will be able to access a recording of the presentation as well as a PDF of presentation materials.
Having difficulty keeping up with the chaotic and quickly-changing landscape of Russia sanctions and commodities markets?
We have been offering a series of in-depth presentations on the global impacts of the Ukraine war on various industries.
So far, we’ve tackled the challenges facing energy, agriculture, and industrial materials. You can purchase access to the recordings of both of these webinars via the buttons below:
We will continue to post our analysis and updates on this and other topics related to the Ukraine War. This newsletter and its affiliated videologues are, and always will be, free. New subscribers can sign up here.
Finally, a reminder:
Russia’s strategic shift from thunder runs to a civilian obliteration has already forced ten million Ukrainians from their homes, with nearly four million now living in limbo in foreign lands. All proceeds from all formats of all of our previous books are being donated to the Afya Foundation, a charity which provides medical assistance to refugees from the Ukraine War. The buttons below will direct you to our purchase pages where you can both find out a bit more about each book, as well as select purchase options ranging from e-services to your local bookstore.
