Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Fed bailing out Europe
Update: So this is how it works, I think. The ECB creates new euros which it swaps with the Fed for new dollars. (So technically, they aren't new euros and this isn't a loan). Then it uses the dollars to lend to banks. The banks exchange these for euros, thus helping keep the value of the euro up, and then they buy European debt. The banks make money because the interest rate on the debt is 5%+ and they can borrow at about 0.5%. So the indebted countries win, because they have buyers of their debts, the banks win, because they lock in profits, the value of the euro is maintained, because no new euros are created, the ECB wins, because it technically hasn't created any new euros and because it does not buy debt directly, and the Fed gets to loan dollars to a very secure borrower, the ECB. The only question I have is what the Fed does with the euros. Does it buy up European debt with them?
See also: http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article32370.html
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