Comment and analysis from the FT on Monday,
Clive Cook: Bernanke and the risk of deflation
For a prudent central banker, unalloyed monetising of the deficit is the last taboo – this, after all, is Zimbabwe’s idea of monetary policy. But in this remarkably perilous situation, the prohibition must be set aside, and better that this should happen before deflation has set in and entrenched itself.
Stephen Hester: Targeting the banks is to risk obscuring the truth
I readily acknowledge that we will still have tough decisions to make and will also make individual errors and I am sorry for that. Human judgment inevitably leads to some errors – both when we say yes and when we say no.
Meredith Whitney: America must keep consumer liquidity flowing
After observing the US economy so derailed, I feel that I must act as a citizen of this great country to attempt to offer solutions to this economic train wreck we are all involved in.
Mark Carney: Towards a more resilient financial system
This is a situation where central banks should consider acting as market-makers of last resort by becoming a counterparty to a broad range of market participants.
Analysis: Vanessa Houlder on the crackdown on tax havens
In the Victorian seaside town of Douglas, a new mood of uncertainty has punctured the customary ebullience of the Isle of Man’s senior legal and financial officials as they fret about the loyalty of their most powerful neighbour. “If jettisoned by the UK, we will have to fight tooth and nail for our survival,” says William Corlett, the island’s attorney general.
Letters
Merkel has a valid point about ‘cheap money’ - Michael Power
The securitised model is broken and needs burial - Philip Collins
Sweet dreams from now on for Citi management - Allan Kelly
