Jake's View | San Francisco Fed chief's jobs claim holds no monetary water
Central banks can go some way to stimulating economic growth but they can't make borrowers drink from the dubious pool of money
Asset buying boosted US growth, Fed official says
I am one of these people who treat elections as sport. It's great fun watching the results roll in on a close one and the enthusiasm is infectious. I think, however, that elections have less real effect on society than even a football game. Politicians are the captives of events, not the directors of them.
But I accept that some public officials can do much to change the course of events and here we have an example. John Williams, president of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, was busy slapping himself on the back during US election week at the supposed success of US monetary policy.
He thinks the US Federal Reserve has done a wonderful job in using public funds to buy up huge amounts of dubious securities in the belief that this pushes up economic growth and creates jobs. We in Hong Kong are among the people who pay the price of this delusion. It's the heat under the fire of our property market at the moment.
Let's get something straight about monetary policy. No central bank on its own can stimulate an economy. This jockey can take its horse to water but it cannot make it drink.