Trump: so bad he could be an economist

One of the things we are good at in this country is talking ourselves collectively down. It’s one of our better traits in some ways -- we don’t like showing off.

So it’s almost a national given that we are useless at football and cricket (we’re actually rather good at both). That we couldn’t build a bridge over a pond if we tried. That our politicians are a joke and our financial institutions corrupt.

I think we can take heart from the observation that this just isn’t so.

We should have moved faster on coronavirus, but that’s easy to say now.

In terms of the City -- The Bank of England, the Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority have all had a good crisis so far. Each move has been decisive and bold and co-ordinated.

All of the people I’ve ever met who work at the regulator or the Bank or the Treasury are thoughtful and smart. They could make more money elsewhere, but they like their jobs

What needs to happen next is now more important. Can the Department for Work and Pensions, HMRC and Local Government turn these big cheques into targeted support that saves jobs and companies? If they can, it will show that our government institutions are a lot better run than we tend to think.

They are certainly all working closely together, which is not true in other countries, in particular the USA.

Do the Federal Reserve and the White House even talk anymore, or does their dialogue consist solely of abuse from Donald Trump on Twitter?

If the President doesn’t make you nervous, you’re on something. Here is what he tweeted on February 24th: “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. We are in contact with everyone and all relevant countries. CDC & World Health have been working hard and very smart. Stock Market starting to look very good to me!”

He is so bad he could be an economist.

On Monday the Federal Reserve unveiled “unlimited” quantitative easing. It didn’t really have the effect of calming markets, and in any case, as AJ Bell commented this week, shoring up asset prices isn’t what is called for this time around – that was the last (financial) crisis, not this one.

People need certainty over their income and expenses. Their savings (and their debts) can wait.

MERVYN IS STILL KING

Former Bank governor Mervyn King said the other day that in the present context, a fall in stock markets Does Not Matter very much and that we shouldn’t close them.