Sam Burns: Are Central Banks Out of Bullets?

Investment Ideas ·
Featuring Sam Burns and Ed Harrison

Published on: January 7th, 2021 • Duration: 57 minutes

Sam Burns, chief strategist at Mill Street Research, joins Real Vision managing editor Ed Harrison to discuss debt monetization, bank lending, and the waning influence of monetary stimulus. Burns examines structural problems within U.S. banks such as declining net interest margins and the increase in securities rather than loans on the bank portfolios. He then looks at strenuous efforts by central banks to stimulate growth, lending, and even inflation, and he predicts that these efforts are "pushing on a string" and will have diminishing returns, thereby pushing the onerous of stimulative action onto fiscal authorities. He and Harrison explore issues such as deficit spending, potential tax hikes on high-earners, and how Burns’ macro views impacts his outlook for factors in assets such as growth, value, momentum, beta, size, and quality. Filmed on January 5, 2021. Key learnings: Monetary stimulus by central banks and the Federal Reserve has, to an extent, run its course, and the fate of the economy and markets is now in the hands of fiscal authorities such as the U.S. Congress. Concerns about inflation are overstated, and commercial real estate and utilities remain under risk. Emerging markets have capacities to do well but are highly subject to decision of policymakers.