Bank of America Economist: ‘There Should Be No Upper Bound for the Size of Stimulus’

A major recession seems certain amid the global market panic. As the coronavirus situation worsens, many major institutions and governments are calling for effectively ‘no limit’ on spending to remedy the consequences. The result could be a permanent change to our understanding of money.

‘No Limit’ on Stimulus Spending

With the economic fallout from the lockdowns becoming more severe, major institutions are now claiming that the economic stimulus should essentially have no cap. In a statement made by Bank of America’s top economist Michelle Meyer, she says that “we are officially declaring that the economy has fallen into a recession.” [The Hill] That arguably is not surprising; however, it was the following comment that should catch everyone’s attention:

“When it comes to the policy response, there should be no upper bound for the size of stimulus, in our view.”

That’s a remarkable statement coming from one of the world’s largest financial institutions. Essentially, until this ends, the government can effectively use however much money is necessary—even if that money doesn’t even exist, it seems. If this goes on for months, it’s not unimaginable to assume that this could easily become the ‘new normal.’ With the Federal Reserve now providing $1T in daily short-term loans for the repo market, it seems that monetary constraints are now effectively non-existent. [Street Insider]

A Deflationary Alternative

When this entire coronavirus pandemic is resolved, the world’s governments will have debts to pay. Moreover, many currencies might see serious inflationary pressures. That’s why there has to ultimately be monetary limits, like a deflationary currency. That’s what needed for us to have financial sovereignty.  Bitcoin provides us with a simple solution, but it has yet to prove itself globally. As of now, there has been some optimism about the leading cryptocurrency decoupling from the stock market. Yet, it is still too early to tell. Bitcoin has never experienced a recession before, so a prediction is near-impossible. What is certain, however, is that this crisis will force us to contend with the fundamentals of how we view money and value. This is why Bitcoin, ultimately, needs to be part of the conversation.