Sense on Cents

There is a reason parents tell their children not to play with matches. Small campfires can take down an entire forest. In similar fashion, heightened levels of inflation also have the potential to explode in a ball of fire. Are our central bankers playing this game as a means of addressing our massive government and non-governmental debt burden? In my opinion, they most definitely are rubbing those sticks together mighty hard. 

I have highlighted three means for central bankers to address excessive debt: default, restructure, devalue. Individuals and corporations are increasingly defaulting and will default at an increasing rate as evidenced by my post earlier this morning highlighting the surge in delinquencies. Individuals and corporations are looking to renegotiate and restructure debt burdens wherever possible. Our government is restructuring debt through the legislative process and not always consistent with generally accepted market and legal principles. Despite words to the contrary, I am convinced that Ben Bernanke and Tim Geithner are on course to devalue our debt, as well, via a promotion and acceptance of higher inflation.

I was somewhat surprised to read that two economists whom I highly respect are encouraging Bernanke specifically to raise the inflation target. Greg Mankiw, an Economics professor at Harvard, shied away from providing an actual inflation target but did offer that Bernanke should work towards a “significant” level of inflation. Kenneth Rogoff, also a Harvard professor and former chief economist at the IMF, believes Bernanke should target an inflation rate of 6%.

Rogoff and Mankiw are both highly regarded. In my opinion, they are calling for higher inflation because they are clearly concerned that the mix of stimulus programs (monetary, fiscal, and budgetary) will not be sufficient to jumpstart our economy. (more…)