Fucking Moron (TM): the negative interest rates edition

In the National Association for Business Economics October survey, 53% cited trade policy as the key downside economic risk through 2020.

On Wednesday the Fed continued trying to counter that risk by cutting the fed-funds rate for the third time this year to between 1.5% and 1.75%. With inflation at about 1.7%, this means the Fed is underwriting negative real interest rates even with the economy growing 2% and the jobless rate at an historic low of 3.5%. This is not tight policy.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/adam-smiths-revenge-11572475800

What are they going to do when the economy stops growing?

Quote of the Day: Xi endorses crypto

Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged increased efforts to speed up development in this sector, underscoring the important role of blockchain technology in the new round of technological innovation and industrial transformation.
...
Li Wei, director of the Science and Technology Department of the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, called for an in-depth study of blockchain technology during the Bund Summit in Shanghai on Monday.

Blockchain has great potential to boost digital innovation, he said. "We need to promote the deep integration of blockchain and the real economy to resolve problems like small businesses having difficulty in obtaining loans, banks having difficulty in risk control and government agencies having difficulty in supervision," he said.


http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1168159.shtml

(no subject)

I wonder whether this is a consequence of politics as entertainment reinforced by social networking. We know from sports that intense rivalries boost ticket sales and opposing sides spend major efforts to incite their fans against the "other team." In addition, in a social networking environment fan engagement is a key indicator for measuring success of a marketing campaign. Intensity x Reach -> Sales

The survey by Pew Research Center was conducted Sept. 3-15 among 9,895 adults (it was completed before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Sept. 24 announcement of an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump). It finds that both Republicans and Democrats express negative views about several traits and characteristics of those in the opposing party, and in some cases these opinions have grown more negative since 2016.

https://www.people-press.org/2019/10/10/partisan-antipathy-more-intense-more-personal/