this post was submitted on 24 Jun 2024
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Yes, they still have it. It's just not in cash.
Fractional reserve banking works because most people don't need all their money as soon as they get paid. Most businesses keep some money in the bank too. Banks have a required percent of deposits that they must keep on hand to allow these withdrawals. And if they run low on cash, they just borrow money for a day from other banks (literally just one day). The US government can adjust the percent of required reserves or the overnight lending rate to keep banks from lending too much money out.
Banks use this money to loan to businesses or people buying houses. It works well because whenever the money is loaned out it is used for a purchase and just redeposited in another bank. A percentage of that money is retained by the bank and the rest is loaned out again. And again and again. This way money is "created" when people buy things in the economy.
This seems like an already failed banking model which places lenders at the front of the pack and will lead to only larger asset bubbles. Japan's Kiretsu system of banking led to banks taking out loans to cover up their own investment losses as they had put their money into an asset bubble which collapsed. Banks then committed wholesale fraud by disguising such losses on their books. The Japanese government then used quantitative easing. They create money ex nihilo, swap the money for a t bill, then they bought the toxic assets by giving t bills to the bank. The bank doesn't sell the t bill, they merely collect interest on it.
The main effect is a system in which bubbles are never popped and consumers suffer a declining standard of living in order to keep asset prices high.
It's not a "failed model". Japan has issues because banks committed fraud and disguised non-performing loans. There are strict rules in the US about when assets must be "marked to market". Plus the US has a growing population because we let in immigrants, which supports a growing economy. We are not close to having problems like Japan.
There are also many levers the Federal Reserve can pull to keep banks in check. As I said, they can raise and lower the reserve requirement and raise and lower the overnight lending rate. This can prevent banks from going nuts with lending, but obviously can't prevent all asset bubbles. Sometimes people are just irrational.
Frankly you seem to be using a bunch of big words and implying that they make a point. Using "ex nihilo" instead of "from nowhere" clinched it for me. Also, you spelled "keiretsu" wrong.
Thanks for the reply. I hope you don't let my spelling or use of ex nihilo (this is the exact language used by the fed and economists, I didn't just make it up) turn you off, because at a policy level they are pursuing policies that keep real estate prices high.
You think that high interest rates keep real estate prices high? That's the opposite of what happens with high interest rates. People can't afford to pay as much when interest rates are high (like they are now).
I'm judging solely based on your comments. You are using big words incorrectly. You clearly don't understand what you're talking about if you think high interest rates keep real estate prices high. Also, your description of Japan's economic problems are disjointed and confused, not correct.
I'm not sure what you mean, but no, I don't think that and I didn't write that but i can understand the confusion because it's not well known how QE works. Some forms of QE prevent crashes. The Fed can achieve this by taking the bank's failing debt instrument off the books, and swapping it for a t bill.