Quote from PohPoh:
This is not deflation...
anymore than it was not record home ownership, record equity prices...all of which were artificial, nominal, and not based on reality...
Deflation would imply a contraction of money supply....money supply is expanding at a record rate, despite money velocity collapsing...the Dollars being hoarded by Member banks is only a temporary, artificial situation. It cannot and will not last. Inflation remains fully intact - the damage is done.
When the Dollars are released into supply, and they certainly will be, you will see what I mean...
Money supply contraction, or traditional "deflation" has occurred.
Inflated asset prices allowed increased borrowing against those assets.
The value of those loans were compounded by fractional reserve lending upwards of 50 times their original value.
As asset prices collapsed, so did the money supply as prior loans were paid back (contracting supply) and new loans were not made, or for a smaller amount.
There is deflation in the consumer banking side. But there is massive dollar inflation with FED money measures.
Whats going on here is the Banks are withholding those injections from being lent.
The FED prints money, but then the Banks explode it through fractional reserve *lending*.
If there's no lending, there's no parabolic explosion in money supply.
How the FED "sterilizes" those injections, I don't know.
Again, there's not enough information.
FED hasn't said what its bought, and from who. And banks haven't said how much they've sold and what they've got left.
The no-recourse, sub-alt-a loan values aren't known.
And now Paulson says they're gonna buy equity stakes instead of paper.
Equity stakes would allow capital auctions through share dilution = more cash on the books for what?
Consolidation. Buy outs. Capital accumulation paid for by the taxpayer.
The decision not buy paper or nullify CDS proves the Treasury has no intention of actually fixing this crisis.
Wallstreet wants to drag it out, as long as possible, because they haven't ever seen this kind of Money - EVER.
They're making a killing.
We're gonna inflate big time after the banks lend again. The FED has given limitless avenues for banks to get money.