Risk adverse bank regulation, anathema to a “Home of the Brave”, has imposed a curse of slow growth on the US economy

Sir, you write: “With every month that passes, the decision of the Fed’s open market committee (FOMC) to raise interest rates in December looks more like a mistake. The US economy clearly decelerated around the turn of the year” “The curse of slow growth afflicts the US economy” April 30.

That increase you refer to is was from 0.25% to 0.5%. Frankly, no matter what it could have signaled to the markets, to believe such minimum minimorum rate increase plays any major role in the difficulties the US has reigniting its economy without huge fiscal or monetary stimulus, seems, excuse me, quite dumb to me.

Much more importance play the risk weighted capital requirements for banks, which have introduced, in the Home of the Brave, a credit risk aversion that seriously distorts the allocation of bank credit to the real economy.

If you need an aide memoire about how idiotic that regulation concocted by the Basel Committee here is one

@PerKurowski ©