Are these the bank regulators the world needs?
We central bank bureaucrats, we think government bureaucrats are much better at deciding whereto the savings of a society should be allocated, than what private bankers, SMEs and entrepreneurs are.
And therefore we as bank regulators, government bureaucrats ourselves, have decided to launch the Basel Accord, that which allows banks to hold no equity when lending to the government but requires these to hold 8 percent in equity against any loan to the private sector.
This way we guarantee that whatever net margin our governments, our employers, pay our banks can be infinitely leveraged, so as to be able to produce the banks much higher risk adjusted returns on equity, than whatever returns banks can obtain when lending in fair terms to the private sector.
But of course, our only motivation, is to make banks safer :-)
Down with risky privates! Long live the infallible sovereigns! Government bureaucrats of the World unite!
Down with risky privates! Long live the infallible sovereigns! Government bureaucrats of the World unite!
PS. One of the benefits with this Accord is that all the subsidies our governments, our employers, are going to receive by having preferential access to bank credit, will not be identified as a tax. Another one is of course that markets will be seen perceiving us as much less risky than usual, which is good. Here among us, in our petit mutual admiration club, we often talk about “the subsidized risk-free rate”.
PS. Warning: We need though to be careful and not overdo it and suddenly have our governments pay negative interest rates on its debts; since then the citizens might begin to suspect not all smells right in the Kingdom.
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