How Central Banks Saved the World. And Will Again
Money mandarins can’t compete with aircraft carriers or tanks for visceral appeal, but when vital national interests are at stake, they’re indispensable.
Powerful weapon.
Photographer: CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP via Getty Images
To hear it from bulls, the newborn year already belongs to central banks. Reviled not long ago for letting prices surge, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and his peers have been anointed by traders as saviors of the world. Those clapping the loudest probably don’t know how right they are.
The widely predicted global recession has yet to occur, inflation is coming down quickly, and interest-rate cuts are projected. As welcome as this development is, don’t imagine for a second that the lords of finance are going into repose. It’s never mission accomplished. Central banks will occupy an ever-more important position in the economic and security life of nations, if history is any guide.