CFS Monetary Measures for December 2020

Today we release CFS monetary and financial measures for December 2020.  CFS Divisia M4, which is the broadest and most important measure of money, grew by 28.9% in December 2020 on a year-over-year basis versus 27.7% in November.

For Monetary and Financial Data Release Report:
http://www.centerforfinancialstability.org/amfm/Divisia_Dec20.pdf

For more information about the CFS Divisia indices and the data in Excel:
http://www.centerforfinancialstability.org/amfm_data.php

Bloomberg terminal users can access our monetary and financial statistics by any of the four options:

1) ALLX DIVM <GO>
2) ECST T DIVMM4IY <GO>
3) ECST <GO> –> ‘Monetary Sector’ –> ‘Money Supply’ –> Change Source in top right to ‘Center for Financial Stability’
4) ECST S US MONEY SUPPLY <GO> –> From source list on left, select ‘Center for Financial Stability’

Today’s WSJ: “Corporate Debt ‘Relief’ Is an Economic Dud”

Today, The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed titled “Corporate Debt ‘Relief’ Is an Economic Dud.

CFS Board Member and former FDIC Chair Sheila Bair and I note how:

Conservatives accuse progressives of wanting to destroy capitalism. Yet a greater threat than Bernie Sanders is the prospect of serial market bailouts by monetary authorities.

The creation of the corporate facilities last March marked the first time in history that the Fed would buy corporate debt. The plan went far beyond previous quantitative easing.

– There is not much evidence that all of that cash went toward creating and preserving jobs in the U.S.
– Corporate facilities merely intensified the damage that monetary interventions had already dealt to U.S. capital allocation.

Capitalism doesn’t work unless capital costs something and markets don’t work unless they are allowed to rise and fall.  Corporate facilities should not become part of the Fed’s standard tool kit. Let them die.

We look forward to any comments you might have.

To view the full article:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/corporate-debt-relief-is-an-economic-dud-11609975810?st=3v9nhfz6u4los6q&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink