The Catch-22 scenario that central banks have triggered should have been obvious to every economist as soon as they began tightening into the financial weakness and instability created by the covid lockdowns. Instead, the narrative has been an ever escalating waiting game – Everyone was simply biding their time until the central bank pivot they assumed was coming. Except, it didn’t happen. As long as interest rates remain higher or continue to climb existing debt and new debt will continue to grow more expensive and less desirable. The lifeblood of markets for the past 14 years has been near-zero interest rates and easy fiat money circulating through banking conduits. Now, the dream is dead.
