Up to about 50 years ago, inflation was the main worry of central banks, primarily because high inflation eroded consumer purchasing power.
Today however this has changed, and the main objective is economic sustainability. By this I mean Central Banks want a continuation of growth with or without inflation. Besides, why increase interest rates and crash the economy making a mess of things, only to lower interest rates to try to inflate the economy, and then do the entire thing all over again?
Many say these asset purchases will cause inflation. Yes, it might happen in the future, but over the past 30 years or so, the lessons to be learned are that we are not in the 50s – 70s anymore.
Which brings us to the discussion on when the Fed will lower or even eliminate the 120 billion dollars in bonds it purchases each month.
My guess is that the Fed will continue these purchases for longer than we imagine. The reason is, the last thing the Fed wants are higher interest rates. Higher rates will affect negatively both the labor market and asset prices. Both stocks and real estate prices are likely to trend lower, which will have an impact on the wealth effect, which will eventually impact the real economy.
Also, contrary to many years ago, the US government today has a much higher debt load. Higher interest rates mean more dollars to service this debt. And with fiscal spending still running, the last thing the US Treasury needs are higher outlays for servicing its debt.
So, while you will not hear the Fed saying it, higher interest rates are not what it wants, even if inflation persists. Insofar as what risk assets will do, we do not know. While logic dictates the liquidity created should continue to be supportive for markets, practically speaking the outcome is not a given.
