December 13, 2007

Don't they co-ordinate?

Sir, you and everyone praise the co-ordinated actions of the Central Banks but besides those who might argue that could increase the systemic risks, who could argue against the co-ordination of actions between central banks, in fact that in a globalized world they could even think of acting in an un-coordinated way makes us shiver.

Having said when you in “The charge of the central banks” December 13, mention that “the cavalry has arrived” let us pray they brought with them the right ammunition as the enemy has not yet been completely identified.

For instance, besides liquidity injections I would suggest the central banks now give the banks sufficient time to adjust their capital ratios for past sins. What is the need for having all the banks run simultaneously to find more capital just because they have now discovered a fire that has been burning for quite some time?… to add panic to panic does not seem the best of co-ordinations.

Finally, let me say a word about the conditions of the battlefields. The current plans to have the subprime mortgage sector freeze the interest rates amount only to an aspirin and no solution. The only thing that can really make solvent the markets is turning the subprime into prime; like by having the government buy those houses at adjusted prices, financed by the current lenders, and leased out to the current owners turned into tenants and giving these a repurchase option at a price that would hold the taxpayer harmless.