London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

The ruling bank

The ruling bank

Banking rests upon public confidence. And central banks are the platform that sits beneath the world economy. Without the Central Bank, there would be no modern economy as we know it. Central banks drive the financial world, and finance is the software of the global economy.
Now the idea that the Federal Reserve can print cash at will is not accurate. Whether it is the European Central bank, the Bundesbank, or the Bank of England- three of Europe’s most powerful central banks- there remains a limit to the power of the Central bank.

Central Bank power resides in two crucial intangibles: business and consumer confidence. Economics is social science and the economy is a product of human behavior.

Central Bank power derives from the public confidence that these banks have the power to underwrite global finance and with that every other aspect of the global economy.

Confidence is indeed a mystery. But the power of public confidence remains a crucial reality of economics. ‘’It is what it is because Jack and Jill believe that it is.’’ The minute public confidence collapses so does the economy. Investors flee for the hills, Jack shuts his business for good, and Jill postpones that vacation to the Algarve.

When there is a banking collapse, behind that collapse is the collapse in public confidence. That collapse may be triggered by events. However, it is the fear of consumers and investors that drives that collapse.

When consumers are fearful the economy is going south and that their assets – both in cash and in investment- are threatened, there is the threat of a run on the banks where consumers withdraw their cash from the bank for fear of losing their hard-earned money.

Now, consumers in the Virgin Islands and residents of the wider Caribbean may not be aware that the stability of the Eastern Caribbean Dollar and any other currency in the region that is legal tender is due to the Federal Reserve acting as the global reserve bank. In other words, the stability of the Caribbean economy is determined by men and women in New York and Washington DC, and the confidence investors and governments have in The Federal Reserve.

A sound monetary system depends upon economic and political stability which in turn depends upon consumer and business confidence that the economy is sustainable and stable.

Investors who drive the global economy look for countries that have economic and political stability to place their cash for sustainable returns.

Sustainability – a much-used term today- is measured in a country having a diverse economy, sustainable national debt, low inflation, resilient public institutions, and stable local banks. These are the ingredients that must be in place before investing in a country’s economy. Countries that possess the preceding have a lower risk of Jack the Investor’s investment going belly up.

Central bankers are a special breed. They live in a semi-isolated world in quiet offices in New York, Washington DC, London, Berlin, and Brussels. However, these men and women exercise huge power and literally have the burden of the global economy on their backs.

The Great Recession of 2008 drove home the critical importance of the Central Bank in stewarding the financial world, and therefore the world economy. Three leading Central Banks-The Federal Reserve, The Bank of England, and The European Central Bank - implemented the well-used term Quantitative Easing.

QE is simply a method of buying back securities from capital markets as a means of injecting liquidity into economies under the threat of depression. This cash comes mainly from investors and investment funds, or governments with excess cash such as China.

The cash finds its way into the monetary system as cheap loans from these central banks to retail banks, or stimulus checks to businesses and consumers: the USA Covid 19 model.

That cash in turn enters the economy from government and these retail banks, allowing businesses to borrow cash at sustainable rates, and entering the pockets of businesses and consumers directly, so, therefore, generating consumer demand.

Consumer confidence and consumer demand drives economic growth. There is a symbiotic relationship between consumer confidence and business confidence. The rise of the former heralds a rise in the latter.

In recent times flooding the markets with cheap money has not been inflationary. The reason for that is not simple to determine. But it has a lot to do with consumer behavior such as caution and a consumer orientation towards frugality and savings post-2008.

Low inflation has been the justification for QE. QE has driven up consumer demand by making purchases on everything from washers, cars and homes, sustainable. QE in turn has fueled economic growth or in the very least, prevented severe economic recession, and even economic collapse.

For now Central banks and QE are here to stay. And the preceding is all about consumer and business faith that these banks are getting it right.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×