International Man

by Doug Casey                   International Man: Let’s start with the basics. What exactly are negative interest rates? Could they exist in a free market without state intervention? Doug Casey: Right now, over $17 trillion of bonds, and a lot of bank accounts—especially in Europe—are offering negative interest rates. It’s something that can only exist in Bizarro World, something that’s really a cosmic impossibility in a normal world. It’s especially true since almost all the world’s banks are zombies—bankrupt. Fractional reserve banking—which is only possible in a world where central banks control the money supply—is intrinsically unsound. The economy is head over heels in debt. If things slow down—as they do now, due to the hysteria over The Virus—lots of loans will go into default. It won’t be because of The Virus itself, however. Coronavirus is just the pin that broke the bubble. Negative rates are a political phenomenon, not a market phenomenon. It’s quite amazing to see bankrupt governments issuing negative rate bonds. It’s what’s been called return-free risk. The whole financial world is in a bubble because of the trillions of currency units created since the crisis unfolded in 2008. Bonds are in a hyper bubble—the worst possible place to be. They’re a triple threat to capital—interest rate risk, currency risk, and default risk. And, again, at negative rates, they are truly a return-free risk. Negative interest rates are being enforced by governments and central banks for several reasons. First of all, … Continue reading →