What We Read Today 07 September 2014

Econintersect: Every day our editors collect the most interesting things they find from around the internet and present a summary “reading list” which will include very brief summaries (and sometimes longer ones) of why each item has gotten our attention. Suggestions from readers for “reading list” items are gratefully reviewed, although sometimes space limits the number included.

The European Central Bank whips out the big guns (Sabri Ben-Achour, Market Place) Hat tip to Ian R. Campbell, GEI Discussion Group, LinkedIn. Ben-Achour sees the ECB move to deeper negative interest rates and increased purchase of ABS (asset backed securities) having three effects: (1) weakening the euro vs. the U.S. dollar; (2) increasing the attractiveness of U.S. bonds and equities; and (3) increased competitiveness for European exports. See also next article.

Mario Draghi’s feeble attempt to save the eurozone is bound to fail (Allister Heath, The Telegraph) Hat tip to Ian R. Campbell, GEI Discussion Group, LinkedIn. Heath says the interest rate change paid by the ECB on deposits by banks from -0.1% to -0.2% will have no significant effect on the economy and the increased purchases of ABS (asset backed securities) is insufficient in extent by far. This is coming from a writer who feels the “entire euro construct is deeply defective, an edifice that is doomed, in time, to fail with disastrous consequences.” But he does feel that the patient could be made more comfortable in its final years rather than repeat the money supply collapse of the Great Depression of the 1930s. Heath quotes Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz. There is more about ECB action and impacts on the U.S. ‘behind the wall’.

What Eric Cantor is Really Going to Do on Wall Street (Better Markets) Hat tip to Roger Erickson. Cantor is going to a $3.8 million a year (minimum guarantee) to provide access to Washington. This is a summary of an article with the same title by Anne Lowry at New York magazine.