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“The idea that you pay governments to hold their debt, it’s just crazy,” said Alan Howard, commanding the world’s largest macro fund. And in a flash, what had once been crazy to deny, became crazy to accept. You see, investors have grown to slavishly believe they should own whatever a central bank is buying. Or short whatever they’re printing. But with $3trln of European bonds trading at negative yields, that Emperor

Hope all goes well… “So much information, so little knowledge,” he said, towering atop Wall Street, entrapped in ivory. “No economist knows what’s going on,” he sighed, stunned by +0.2% Q1 GDP. “None of us can explain what happened last quarter, let alone what’ll happen four quarters out.” In the real economy, there are few signs of animal spirits. “What’s the plausible explanation?” he asked, thinking aloud. “I live

“This is not just a problem for the Fed,” said Consigliere, back in DC from a never-ending global tour. “The same problem is faced by the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, SNB, Riksbank, Norges Bank, HKMA, MAS, and even the PBOC now.” Following the global financial crisis the Fed adopted two objectives; maintaining economic stability (strong growth, full employment and 2% inflation), and financial stability (avoid