zlacker

>>qqqqqu+(OP)
Macroeconomics. Central banks are "creating" a trillion here, a trillion there, like nobody's business. But what are the consequences? What is the thought process that central bankers have gone through to make these decisions?

Also why, exactly, are they buying the exact assets that they are buying (govt. debt, high-yield bonds, etc..) and why not others (e.g. stocks or put money into startups)? And then, what happens if a debtor pays back its debt? Is that money consequently getting "erased" again (just like it's been created)? What happens if a debtor defaults on its debt? Does that money then just stay in the economy, impossible to drain out? What is the general expectation of the central banks? What percentage of the debt is expected to default and how much is expected to be paid back?

And specifically in the case of central banks buying govt. debt: Are central banks considered "easier" creditors than the public? What would happen if a country defaults on a loan given by a central bank? Would the central bank then go ahead and seize and liquidate assets of the country under a bankruptcy procedure to pay off the debt (like it would be standard procedure for individuals and companies)?

>>rsp198+im1
I've wondered the same thing lately whenever someone here posits that defaults cause the destruction of money.

I'd love to see this properly explained, because it definitely has a counter intuitive ring to me.

>>jddj+Cu1
Whoever defaulted spent the money on something else, so it's still in circulation somewhere, just not in a form the original creditor can get hold of.

>>sidesh+Mu1
That would be my intuition too. But if you go down almost any "this crisis won't cause inflation because..." rabbit hole on hacker news, you should see multiple unopposed claims that defaults lead to deflation through the destruction of money.

I'm pretty ignorant in this field, and usually I've been a day or so behind the posts (missing the window to press for more information), but I feel like there's definitely some contention there.

>>jddj+mv1
Here's how I would think of that:

Suppose I'm a bank, and I lend you $10 to buy apple tree seedlings. You spend all $10 on seedlings as promised.

The person who sold you the seedlings has $10. You have the seedlings. I have an expectation of getting $10 in the future, presumably from your sales of apples.

Because most people repay their loans, I'm confident I'll get the $10 back, and being a bank, my business is lending money. I might treat the $10 loan as $7 on my balance sheet when I decide how much money is safe to lend out.

Then the price of apples crashes. You come to me and say, 'look, there's no way I'll make $10 selling apples in the time I promised to repay you. Best I can do is deliver you the seedlings or sell them to my neighbor for $3 and give you that'. I grumble a little, but take your deal.

The person you bought the seedlings from still has $10. Your neighbor now has the seedlings and $3 less. I now have 3 real dollars instead of 7 hypothetical dollars. In other words, 4 hypothetical dollars disappeared. When I decide how much to lend out, I'll be basing that on $3 I know I have, instead of the $10 I thought I'd probably get back. I don't lend as much money to aspiring orchardists (orchardeers?), and the price of apples rises.

Edit: This fragility is probably a major factor why some people are so against fractional reserve banking (my counting hypothetical dollars as having value) but without that hack, there's no saying I could have lent you the original $10, so it's a bit of a double-edged sword.