The US may not always be able to lead global economic rescue efforts, says this University of London Honorary Research Fellow.
There are concerns about the so-called, largely unregulated financial institutions that now make up half of all global financial assets. For example, in the US many people invest in money market funds, which pay higher interest than banks, but provide no deposit insurance.
There are strong reasons to doubt whether the Fed would be willing or able to lead another large-scale 2008-style bank rescue. Finally, the US’ ability to mount a major bank rescue, either domestically or internationally, is limited by the fact that the Fed still has a huge balance sheet overhang remaining from the 2008 rescue, which it is trying to reduce by US$30 billion, and soon US$60 billion, per month. And the Fed’s authority to issue swaps to other central banks could also be challenged by politicians who might question the need to help the US’s economic rivals.