According to the latest data from BofA, we have seen $1.3 billion in asset purchases by central banks every hour since March. Every hour, another $1.3 billion. That’s nearly a trillion a month. If you think that’s crazy, how about nearly 200 rate cuts around the world this year? That’s nearly one central bank rate cut for every day the market is open. If you wonder how it fits into the fiscal side in the US, consider this: the treasury has issued nearly $3.5 trillion in US government bonds in 2020 – by far an all-time record. If you add it all up, you arrive at an unmistakable conclusion: the slippery slope of direct monetization of the economy is already now well underway, spurred into action by the pandemic crisis. But tools born of crisis conditions rarely get put back on the shelf.