“Wednesdays with Axel” …. Hard fast Austerity Choosers

In our continued series from our Private Client Roundtable event held earlier in the year, and our special guest speaker Axel Merk, we note a few countries that are making the hard choices, according to Merk.

Downward trending line = Hard Choice (Austerity)

Downward trending austerity driven line:

• Bank of England
• Sweedish Riksbank (Huge early adopters, 2010)
• Europ0ean Central Bank

Note the upward, non austerity, possible “inflation way out” of the USA. Also worth noting, while Japan is all the rage, they have only begun the process of inflation and can go much farther by increasing their banks balance sheets.

Austerity Versus Inflation

Clearly, according to Axel, there are differing policy decisions on how to recover from the great world slow down. Those that are leading today, USA, Japan may not be the leaders tomorrow, as others are taking their medicine today through austerity measures, again according to Axel.

Time will tell if the easy way out or the hard way works…no matter the outcome, keeping a watchful eye is very important. Thanks for bringing this to our attention Axel!

Have a great Wednesday!

John Kvale