Something about Michael Howell interviews always bugged me, and I wasn’t sure why, but this clip sums it up. He’s the voice of Demetri Kofinas' financial nihilism. Nobody pays their debts back, fiat money is worthless, eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die! Inflation forever and ever,... amen. Rich people with lots of assets who get interviewed by financial media tend to love inflation. I’m a realist - Howell's right that we need to be prepared, and that is the system we have today - but let’s not pretend this profligacy doesn’t have an endgame - a very bad endgame for most.show more

Howell's not wrong on the facts. e.g., “What Janet's doing here is running a policy which is akin to an emerging market or Latin American economy”

“There's been a sizable hidden stimulus that we're talking about - a magnitude like $5 trillion has gone in. These are big big amounts, and as you can see from the chart, it's beginning to roll over now...they've got to start moving towards balance sheet expansion again”

Howell sounds erudite and sincere but for the life of me I cannot follow through any of his concepts. Two major flaws/killers. 1. "Liquidity" is a fog and even does not not exists. Central banks do not create money nor can they destroy money. 2. There is no such thing as "global" in terms of macro and monetary economics understanding. There is the US hegemon and then the rest. every line item he mentions goes "poof" if you apply it to those two concepts above. in this way Howell doesnt exist but as analytical happenstance. a tautology.

@kofinas Fiat isn’t worthless. Yet. It’s just trending toward worthless at an increasing rate. Following the path of every government mandated (by decree) money ever. Inflation is theft of your stored productivity/purchasing power by the gov’t. That’s not nihilism. That’s a fact.

I'm familiar with this chart.

@kofinas The system is working as intended: governments get to spend money they can’t get otherwise and bankers don’t have to worry about technology-induced deflation. Everyone else has to conform, which isn’t always possible, but the system’s architects and supporters don’t care.

@kofinas Not a fan of his work and in general what he says doesn't make a lot of sense to anyone who understands the system, but he is right that as long as people want to hold money and debt it doesn't need to be paid back. Obviously that can cause a lot of issues down the road

@kofinas As I see it, he is just telling us as he sees the financial system working.

I understand. It's the message not the messenger, but the messenger seems fine with all of it.

@kofinas >> Rich people with lots of assets who get interviewed by financial media tend to love inflation The rich love the inflation strategy bc it means the game goes on. The last thing they want is for the game to end. That could mean pitchforks, ropes, and jumping out of skyscrapers.