Alan Kohler is one of Australia’s most experienced commentators and journalists. Alan is the founder of Eureka Report, Australia’s most successful investment newsletter, and Business Spectator, a 24-hour free business news and commentary website. He also hosts Inside Business, a half-hour Sunday programme on the ABC, is the finance presenter on the ABC News - and producer of the nightly graph (or two).
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Comments on this article
Comments PolicyIs the author recommending a policy of governments raising cash out of thin air, lending it to banks who then use the cheap cash to buy government debt/bonds (An ECB leap too late?, December 23)? This seems to lead to the compounding of the entire problem which is a merry go round of biblical proportions. Governments in Europe, add the US and even Australia simply spend too much money and I think it has to stop. Yes the poor, the sick and the aged will suffer, as will our collective defence but you cannot spend 150 per cent of income forever. The longer this insanity continues the worse the outcome. Governments have cooked the books for decades. Announce a new policy for electoral purposes, pay for it with debt and hey presto only the interest is ever accounted for. The debt is simply rolled over forever never being repaid. You can do this even with recurrent expenditure if you are smart. And promised pensions for soldiers/public servants/pensioners/disability etc. They are never the current governments problem so "who cares". This madness will bring the West to its knees. And still we keep borrowing.
So this is why Alan K is selling all his shares. Minsky Moment = eurozone sovereign and banking system deleveraging from turning into an uncontrolled Minsky Moment (referencing economist Hyman Minsky and referring to the inflection point when investors must sell assets to pay off debts, pushing down asset prices across the board). An acceleration of the debt deflationary feedback loop will be the odds-on outcome if the ECB continues to play coy with its own balance sheet (An ECB leap too late?, December 23).
Alan Kohler has pointed out the importance of nation's being able to print money when necessary. The Australian government needs to understand this and insist that entities which the government explicitly or implicitly backstops, such as agencies, banks, state and local governments, should only borrow in Australian currency. Let others take the currency fluctuation risk not the nation (An ECB leap too late?, December 23).