Can Obama Fix a Post - Bubble Economy?

London, England

Today’s the day... the whole world turns its weary eyes to you.

“Obama’s moment arrives,” says the International Herald Tribune.

“World needs Obama to succeed,” begins an editorial in the Financial Times.

“The Hope of the World,” says one Paris-based magazine... with a photo of Barack and Michelle on the cover.
Never before have so many people counted so much on just one man.

In the torrent of words and pictures are two thoughts: One, a sense of achievement and pride... in that Americans elected the son of an African as their top man. It is thought to mark a major step forward for the whole human race. We have risen above our prejudices... and our past. At least, that’s what they say. Two, there is an expectation... or perhaps only a wish... that this man can somehow keep the world economy from falling apart.

As to the first thought, we have no opinion. We were never able to get into the spirit of racism. In fact, we were suspicious of it. People don’t really care about race; it’s culture that matters. Culturally, Barack Obama is as white as snow. But who cares? Most of the white men elected to America’s highest office were either numbskulls, chiselers or frauds. There’s no reason to think a half-black man will be worse or better.

But as to the second thought, we have a number of opinions... most of which you have suffered already, dear reader.

Here at the Daily Reckoning, we wish Mr. Obama well. But it is not wishes that make people wealthy. It is work, saving, innovation, and luck. And it is not wishes that fix a post-bubble economy... it is a bust. Best to let it happen.

But we are alone in that opinion... as in so many others. Everyone wishes the errors of the bubble years would just go away... that the bust would disappear. Of course, it doesn’t work that way. Instead, the errors of the last boom/bubble period – known as the ‘Great Moderation’ – get passed to the Obama administration along with the keys to the washroom. And now, the whole world looks to the captain of the team... waiting instructions.

And here we turn to the rest of the news. Markets in the US were closed yesterday. But Britain had its worst day in years. And today, Asian markets are trading lower... because of the problems in the banking sector.

“Blue Monday,” the Daily Telegraph calls it. The Royal Bank of Scotland has just reported the biggest loss in British history – 28 billion pounds worth. Its share price lost 67% yesterday – also a record breaker.

The Brown government is on the case... like the Obama government on the other side of the Atlantic. Last week, the Bank of America got a $138 billion handout. And Merrill Lynch got guarantees covering $118 billion in dodgy assets. This week, what fixes will her majesty’s government come up with? What magic wand will the chancellor wave to make the bust go away?

We remind readers that the Brits were America’s closest sidekicks during the boom years. As American house prices soared... UK house prices soared even further. And as Americans went deep in debt, the Brits went even deeper. Those were the days when the Bubble Gang robbed the banks of capital – paying out huge fees and bonuses... rewards for making the worst deals and investments in the industry’s history.
RBS, for example, is in a jam because its managers went on an acquisition spree – including the biggest banking deal in UK history, the purchase of ABN Amro for 49 billion pounds. Each acquisition was like a conquest, celebrated with champagne and bonuses. But did RBS have 49 billion? Of course not. It borrowed the money; it was a leveraged deal. And naturally, now that the bubble years are over, it’s having a tough time paying the money back. Mistakes have to be corrected after all.

And so the Brown government has stepped in. From an initial bailout of Northern Rock, which put the government on the hook for 55 billion pounds in September ’07, the taxpayers’ potential liability has grown with each step of the banking crisis. In September 2008, it was Bradford and Bingley that needed a bailout. Then, the whole sector needed credit guarantees... and a special liquidity scheme was added in October... followed by further insurance and a “toxic asset” buy-up plan a few weeks ago. Now, the total at risk is nearly 1 trillion pounds... or nearly $50,000 per UK taxpayer.

Bloomberg reports: “The pound dropped to a record low versus the yen and the weakest level since 2002 against the dollar on concern the government will have to rescue more banks as the economy slips into its worst recession since World War II.”

Jim Rogers says: “The UK is finished”.

“I would urge you to sell any sterling you might have,” said Rogers. “It’s finished. I hate to say it, but I would not put any money in the U.K.”

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia said there was “a high risk of a cut to the country’s credit rating outlook”.

That’s bad news for the value of the pound. It has today fallen below $1.40. It’s slumping against the euro as well.

“One more bad piece of news – like this month’s jobless data, for example – should really help it on its way down,” says Theo Casey of The Fleet Street Letter. He has a way to play it:

“How you could make money as the pound is crushed…”

*** It was only a few months ago that Mr. Brown stood before Parliament and misspoke... “We have saved the world...” he began... before the MPs started laughing.

He meant to say that he had saved British banking with a 37 billion pound program. But even that turned out to be wishful thinking. Now, he’s back with another 350 billion pounds in rescue money. The earlier saving grace put 20 billion of the taxpayers’ money in RBS. That now looks like a poor investment; the bank is only worth 5 billion. But that doesn’t stop the politicians from putting bad money after good. Besides, they’ve got plenty of bad money... and are about to have a lot more.

Yes, dear reader... we have confidence in our central banks. And our confidence was raised even higher after reading this report in the Telegraph:

“Bank of England edges closer to ‘printing money’” says the headline.

The report continues:

“Under the scheme’s terms, the Bank will be able to buy assets including corporate bonds and commercial paper, a move which Mervyn King, the Bank’s Governor, called “an important additional tool to improve financing conditions in the economy.”

“The asset purchase facility does not in itself amount to quantitative easing or ‘printing money,’ because the scheme initially will be financed by Treasury Bills and does not involve an increase e in the money supply.”

And here’s the money paragraph...

“However, the Treasury has given the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee the option to go down that road by extending the scheme at a later date and paying for assets with what amounts to newly created money...”

Now, all three of the Western world’s leading central banks – the Fed, the ECB and the BoA – are ready to print money. And the big question before us is how long will it take them to get the printing presses oiled and working properly?

Mr. Obama enjoys more “political capital” than any leader in history. The whole planet – and perhaps the whole galaxy – is rooting for him. What will he do with it?

As for his inaugural speech, Mr. Obama is expected to appeal to the public’s residual sense of heroic civic service.

“Ask not what the banks can do for you... ask what you can do for the banks,” he is likely to say... Just kidding, of course. That is what he is likely to do, but not say. Everyone believes the banks need more money. He is likely to give them more. How? Using the “quantitative easing” technique... otherwise known as printing up money. The banks, of course, will not lend... and people will not borrow. They’re not fools. So, then, the Obama administration will begin pumping harder...like they do in Zimbabwe.

*** Zimbabwe just released a new bill – the 100 trillion dollar note, said to be worth about 33 US dollars yesterday. Today, it is worth about $16. Tomorrow, it will be worth about $8. Within a week or two, it will be as worthless as all the other notes the Zimbabweans have printed.

Of course, we’re a long way from there. Many prices in the US and Britain are actually falling. The feds still don’t have the printing presses working properly. But they’ll get the hang of it; we’re sure of it.

A Zimbabwe-style inflation may seem unlikely. But is a US-style inflation, circa 1970s, unrealistic? That too, was caused by policy errors, says Robert J. Samuelson. The feds were so eager to promote full employment, he writes, they caused stagflation. Consumer prices were rising at a 13.5% rate by 1980. Unemployment reached as high as 11%.

Those rates weren’t the end of the world. But they were the end of an era. Stocks fell from a high in 1966 down to a low 14 years later. And bond yields went in the opposite direction. From the lows of the ‘50s and ‘60s... they were in the double digits by the early ‘80s. Then, of course, stocks and bonds bottomed... and a new boom began.

The average bear market in stocks takes about 15 years to reach. Looking at it from our usual happy, positive perspective, we put the beginning of the bear market in January 2000. Since then, stocks are down in real terms. If the bear market were to last 15 years, you could expect the bottom six years from now... at prices probably about half what they are today.

But never before have so many financial policymakers been so determined to prevent a correction. How? By causing inflation. Our guess is that they’ll get the hang of it long before the bear market has run its course.

“Inflation could return sooner than you think,” says MoneyWeek magazine. “Instead of deflation, by the end of this year we could have the beginnings of really rapid inflation,” said hedge fund manager Jim Mellon, “which could get out of control, particularly in America.”

“It could be a year... maybe 24 months,” said an old friend yesterday. Terry Easton, who put the key question to Ben Bernanke last week, thinks Obama will follow Roosevelt’s program.

“Secretly, bankers are already being advised about how to handle a bank holiday,” says Terry. “There will be limits on how much money you can take out of a bank. And probably limits on what you can do with it.”

There will probably be controls on trading gold... that was one of Roosevelt’s plan too. And probably a national health care program. And who knows what else.

And until they get the inflation pumps working again, look for falling prices on stocks, houses... and just about everything else. Unemployment will rise higher than almost anyone expects. The Chinese economy could implode. Fortunes will change hands... with just about everyone ending up a net loser. Businesses will go bust. Malls will be closed. Banks will be nationalized (even more than they are already).

*** It’s eve of the Feast of St. Agnes tonight... looking for a husband? This is your big chance...

St. Agnes that’s to lovers kind Come ease the trouble of my mind...

- Keats

P.S. If you enjoyed this article you can find out more about our free email, The Right Side by clicking here.

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Can Obama Fix a Post - Bubble Economy?

O! Bama!