October 14, 2016

Who is able to measure how much risk weighted capital requirements for banks distort the real economy?

Sir, Gillian Tett quotes Axel Weber, former head of the Bundesbank, now chairman of UBS with “I don’t think a single trader can tell you what the appropriate price of an asset he buys is, if you take out all this central bank intervention” “Investors are ill equipped for our unfathomable future” October 14.

And much less can anyone know what the appropriate price of an asset he buys is, if you take out all the distortions the risk weighting of the capital requirements for banks produce. Just look at houses. How could anyone believe their prices would be the same as now, if bankers were required to hold as much capital when financing houses than when financing SMEs and entrepreneurs?

Sovereigns being risk weighted at 0%, while We the People at 100%, is one of the strongest statist statements ever, and it has been allowed to go unnoticed for way too long.

With central bankers’ QEs there is at least some transparency… but I guess Sir that, with respect to negative interests, no one knows either how to really measure their impact… it does really seem to be a huge leap of faith into the unknown.

@PerKurowski ©