B
ANKING COULD be called the business of time travel. When savers deposit money in a bank, they postpone consumption. When borrowers take out loans they pull future consumption forward. Banks facilitate this by the magic of interest. When they make loans and charge interest, or pay interest on deposits, they are really putting a price on time itself. But when interest rates are zero, or even negative, this trick becomes much harder to pull off.
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This phenomenon is not new. Interest rates have trended lower for decades and have been below zero in Japan and Europe for half a decade. “We have complained for years about the low interest-rate environment, and I cannot hear that any more”, says Christian Sewing, boss of Deutsche Bank in Germany. “This is a new normal.”
What are the new inflation hawks thinking?
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What are the new inflation hawks thinking?
jordantimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from jordantimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Ökonom Markus Brunnermeier: Ab wann Inflation wehtut
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