The Absolute Return Letter - July 2013: Much Ado about Nothing

The growing presence of political incompetence is beginning to annoy the world’s central bankers. The Bank for International Settlements (the central bank of central banks) has sharpened its knives, but BIS cannot have it both ways. Simultaneous de-leveraging in the public and the private sectors would lead to a serious economic set-back, possibly even a 1930s style depression. Meanwhile, nobody can afford for interest rates to rise, so expect central banks to fight the recent trend with all the tools at their disposal. But can they actually control the yield at the long end of the curve? That’s the big question.