The Case Against 2 Per Cent Inflation

Description

This book analyses the controversial and critical issue of 2% inflation targeting, currently practised by central banks in the US, Japan and Europe. Where did the 2% target inflation originate, and for what reason? Do these reasons stand up to scrutiny? This book explores these key questions, contributing to the growing debate that the global 2% inflation standard prescribed by the central banks in the advanced economies globally is actually contributing to the economic malaise of these nations. It presents novel theoretical perspectives, intertwined with historical and market understanding, and features analysis that draws on monetary theory (including Austrian school), behavioural finance, and finance theory. Alongside rigorous analysis of the past and present, the book also features forward looking chapters, exploring how the 2% global inflation standard could collapse and what would ideally follow its demise, including a new look at the role of gold. Front Matter ....Pages i-x Next: The Fifth Stabilization Experiment Under Fiat Money (Brendan Brown)....Pages 1-10 Origins of the Global 2% Inflation Standard (Brendan Brown)....Pages 11-25 Diagnosis of Monetary Inflation in Asset Markets (Brendan Brown)....Pages 27-42 Manipulation of Long-Term Interest Rates (Brendan Brown)....Pages 43-54 A Failure of US Checks and Balances (Brendan Brown)....Pages 55-73 Digitalization, Camouflage, and Monetary Inflation (Brendan Brown)....Pages 75-93 Much Ruin in Japan’s Journey to 2% (Brendan Brown)....Pages 95-114 Germany Abdicates Hard Money Power (Brendan Brown)....Pages 115-130 Unaffordable Housing and Poor-Quality Money (Brendan Brown)....Pages 131-147 Negative Interest Rates and the War Against Cash (Brendan Brown)....Pages 149-163 Experiments in Crash Postponement: 1927/29 Versus 2016/18 (Brendan Brown)....Pages 165-183 Wealth Creation and Destruction Under the 2% Regime (Brendan Brown)....Pages 185-205 From the Fifth Monetary Chaos to Twenty-First-Century Gold (Brendan Brown)....Pages 207-226 Back Matter ....Pages 227-232