Im Handelsblatt konnte man am 5. Mai 2017 einen Gastkommentar von Herrn Yves Mersch, gewichtiges Mitglied der EZB, mit dem Titel “Auf solidem Grund” lesen, worin err Mersch auf die prekäre Situation der EZB in Sachen Währungshüter und Bankenkontrolleur einging.
Zusammengefasst wollte Herr Mersch damit zum Ausdruck bringen, dass sich die Geldpolitik der EZB auf solidem juristischen Grund bewegt.
Das dem nicht so ist und darüber hinaus die EZB auch hätte Nein sagen können zur Übernahme des Bankkontrolleur-Status, zumal die EZB wie auch andere Institutionen nicht über die entsprechende Logistik verfügt hatte und diese erst aufgebaut werden musste, veranlasste mich das unten aufgeführte E-Mail an Herrn Mersch in Englisch zu schreiben, da ich nicht weiß, ob er der deutschen Sprache mächtig.
Dear Mr. Mersch,
I refer to your speech presented at the” Symposium on Building the Financial System of the 21st Century: An Agenda for Europe and the United States“, which has been published by the Handelsblatt on 5th May 2017 in a revised and shortened version. As this speech has been hold in English I also try to fix my criticism in English.
The basic message in this speech is your argument that the European Central Bank acts with their unconventional activities on a solid legal ground confirmed by European Court of Justice (EUGH).
But with due respect at the time this judgement has been rendered in 2015, the European Court of Justice has been dominated by the very influential Greek president, the president of European Central Bank is an Italian and the decision-making body, the central bank council, will also be dominated by the southern European countries, which all are very interested in the possibility, to sell their debts to the European Central Bank, that means to all citizens of Europe. “Honi soit qui mal y pense”.
I think you know that the German “Federal Constitutional Court” (Bundesverfassungsgericht) has declared the purchase of bonds by the European Central Bank as an unconstitutional act and this council does not consist of by members with political interests and a lack of professional background as it is at the European Court of Justice.
Therefore your judicial argument moves on a very very thin ice.
The results of this monetary policies are disastrous and I don`t get rid of the feeling, that you and all the members of central bank council live either in a world of alternative facts or you don`t know the real consequences of your monetary policies, which will lead all of us successively to poverty.
Therefore let me specify these consequences:
- With the zero-interest policy respectively the created investment plight, the European Central Bank has eliminated the very important deposit business of the banks in Europe at a time the banks urgently need possibilities to earn money for restoring/ to consolidating their equity. Therefore your policy will lead sooner or later to a further bank crash with fatal consequences for the bank customers and the financial markets all over the world.
- The low, or zero basis of interest provokes many stock corporations to buy back their own stocks with the emission of low interest bonds in order to foster their return on equity but with the result of heavy equity reductions. On maturity date of these bonds I can only hope that the stock corporations are able to buy back their bonds. Otherwise big insolvencies followed by a financial crash will be the result.
- A heavy inflation takes place on the stock markets and on the real estate markets but not on the real economy. The danger of bubble bursting is not far away. By the way the European Central Bank has not the function to foster the inflation but realize monetary stability. Mr. Draghi, you and your colleagues argue only on the way of fostering the inflation!
- Your monetary policies which induce the above mentioned investment plight will lead less professional investors and elderly people – I would say the mass of investors – into investments of the high risk gray market with the result of capital losses respectively the loss of their retirement reserves and will lead to the poverty of the elderly people. In future this will be a very hard burden for all countries of the European Community.
- Furthermore your monetary policy destroys successively all retirement arrangements of very many citizens based on equities and interests, the blood of the financial markets which you have exhaust. But this would not be the sorrow of you and your colleagues, as the European citizens will pay your well remunerated retirement provisions. This is also the reason, why elderly people tend to elect political parties with disastrous policies mainly the parties on the “right border” or populist political parties with also disastrous policy results, that means the insolvency of European Community (see Brexit)
- Your monetary policy disappropriate most of all saver, the basis of financial activities in a free financial markets. I think this is a kind of a very perfide robbery in the costume of the serious Central Bank and the politicians applaud to this because the European Central Bank gives them the possibility to rise their national debts. But this is not serious, this is disastrous for the European countries and does not fit to a serious Central Bank. The European Central Bank has lost this status, I am sorry and I believe, that your monetary policies will lead to an European exit = Euroexit.
These points are the important ones. To specify all negative results of your disastrous monetary policy will blow up the frame of this E-Mail. But these points underline the opinions of very much and serious economists, that the central bank council abuses very heavily the independence of the European Central Bank as a lot of “democratic” government all over the world does this with the democracy on their lips (Turkey, Hungary, Poland, Venezuela etc).
How many “unconventional (doubtful) measurements” implemented the European Central Bank to foster the inflation? But nothing happens with the inflation. But as the oil price rises the inflation rises and afterwards the oil price reduces the inflation reduces. That means the policy of the European Central Bank has shown no effect with respect of the inflation development, with other words it is a blame for you and your colleagues of the European Central Bank.
But the question is, why does the European Central Bank prefer this doubtful way with no effect for the inflation but creates many many risks for the financial markets? Will you implement a new financial system on the basis of investment banking in order to hide all risks of the world into the mass of investment funds or in the complex structured financial products, which will lead to a structured exploitation but makes most of the peoples poor and less people very very rich? But this is the basic of future revolutions.
Your further arguments to a strictly separated monetary policy with respect to your function to supervise the bigger European banks are as realistic as the Chinese walls in the banks that means fake and nonsense.
The further argument that this function has been applied by the politicians to the European Central Bank is not substantive as the Central Bank has the power to say no. Why didn`t you say no particularly as you did not have the personal capacity to fulfill this important duty at this time. I believe it was suitable to your new ideology of implementing the investment banking structure.
The European Central Bank has become an affiliate of Goldman Sachs & Co. nothing else. Shame on you and all members of the central bank council, the pathfinder of the future autocratic societies and the death of the European Community and democracy.
Kind regards
Das E-Mail wurde versandt am 7. Mai 2017
Elmar Emde
14. Mai 2017
Autor des Buches “Die strukturierte Ausbeutung”
Siehe auch www.emde-fiveko.de