If you want a financial guard dog to bite, don't feed it with hot money

Why there is a need to release so much money into the economy and where it is being used is unclear.

'It's always a mystery,' said Lu Zhengwei , a senior economist for Industrial Bank.

To get a full picture of the mainland's money supply would take a very large project beyond the scope of an individual researcher - and it has yet to be done, he said.

SCMP, December 1

Oh what a mystery, what a complete enigma, how difficult a riddle ... the question, that is, of how this Mr Lu can call himself an economist, a senior one too, take note. Maybe I'll never puzzle it out.

The answer to the question of why money supply growth in China is so high is simple enough. Beijing cheats. What it calls cooling down measures are nothing of the sort. Perhaps Mr Lu knows it too and he is just ducking and diving. Some truths are best ... well, you know.

Let me point out here that the famous American bank robber, Willie Sutton, was a better monetary economist than Mr Lu. Asked why he robbed banks he said, 'Because that's where the money is.'