So wait, did he say that ECB's last QE was made for *social reasons*? What are those social reasons? To save a government which is their ally, while Italian politicians don't let the people to vote because they would be thrown out of office instantaneously? So I'm wondering, is the ECB a political institution? I would shocked to hear that. SHOCKED!

A really excellent interview covering a wide range of current monetary issues complete with an honest portrait of his current “book” by a VERY well connected knowledgeable guest!....umm, Euro dollars—where have I heard that bit before recently....maybe somewhere down on Little Cayman?

This is probably my first comment and I must say the announcer asked very good and well thought questions. Thanks a lot.

Blockchain is efficient and is to be used for helicopter money? He doesn't have a clue of what he's talking about.

I guess Robert is really trying to filter in his ears the French accent of his guest 😜.

43:00 onwards...the govt simply wont "allow" the rating to just go all the way down and see the system collapse

Enjoyed that and this interview hits the nail on the head in what to follow this year. The ECB review recently announced by Lagarde at least offers some chance for some retrospection from the central bank community in 2020. Its hard to imagine it coming from anywhere else. I look forward to hearing more from Etienne as the year goes on as he seems well situated to comment on this. An interesting addition to RV!

The succinct trade ideas were conclusive and to the point at the end.

excellent

This was an excellent interview as Etienne is reminding everyone what matters since GFC: we are in a Central Banks' regime therefore we have to be focused on the policymakers' rhetoric in order to pick up any, even subtle, shift in their communication. There is little doubt, as highlighted by Etienne, that they have fueled the current "Let's buy anything at any price". I think that the ECB is more concerned by asset valuations than the FED. At least for now. Or let me rephrase it: there are more Hawks at the ECB desperate to be vocal than at the FED. When asked about financial asset prices yesterday during the Press Conference, Powell answered “somewhat elevated”, but “not extreme”. A re-focus from the central banks' community on asset valuations will be a massive game changer. The key question is: which central banker will be brave enough to kill the monster they have created? Thank you for your insights Etienne, definitely bringing back the discussion to THE only stage that matters.

The conundrum of forced sovereign buying by banks due to carry costs being lower than breaching Regs is vastly under appreciated by a large percentage of market participants. Second, the competitive devaluation argument is always and everywhere complicated by the Reserve status of the dollar. It seems nearly impossible for the US to export deflation given the scramble for UST collateral in the balance sheet driven Eurodollar world. I would disagree on the fragility or institutional “challenge” in the US. The system is functioning precisely as the Founders intended. This relative to France where cops and firefighters are beating the crap out of each other in the streets.

Excellent interview in my opinion. US as the hottest EM is definitely not mainstream thinking, especially won't be pleasant for a US-mainly audience. Apart from loss of Fed independance, debt levels and all the impeachment stuff, some points that are very EM-ish could have been added there, namely: - Upcoming EM-style political risk with upcoming elections. Argentina-style shock in the US? - Rising protectionism as an early-development strategy. And we still have a LOT OF ROOM for this to come back (see here => http://bit.ly/37lF3XX), especially if Trump gets re-elected he'll go ALL IN - Polarizing wealth inequality, a central piece to the 2020 US elections debate, the hard left's favourite angle - More and more revenue coming from the oil market. When should we expect the "Bad billionaires" (Rushir Sharma's term) to emerge? Questions to Etienne: - Could the 2019-NcOv be the trigger? - What would it take for the ECB to change their inflation target? Could you please expand on the "tool revamping" points you mentioned? - Any view on the 2020 US elections? - You guys wrote a publication on private capital, WeWork, IPOs etc. a few months back, what's your update on that? Good follow on Twitter @etiennedemarsac ! Would be good to hear from Etienne when we get more information about the ECB toolkit review.  

The people at the ECB are disconnected from reality and live in their world of innacurate models. Inflation targeting does not work, you are destroying the economy of the eurozone and paving the way for future social crisis.

"the US dollar is the loser and the Euro is the winner" LOL... look at the economic facts !!!! Your policies dont work

A very good honest interview from someone who clearly has some “inside” knowledge. Hopefully Etienne you will be able give us some advanced warning when you think CBs will eventually react and slowly let out some of the hot air and deflate these bubbles. If they ever will of course.

hah - "the US is the hottest emerging market for 2020" clearly, politics and economics point that way