Weekend Economists Piece for Peace April 3-5, 2015

[Demeter]

62. New rules on global banks' interest-rate risks face delays

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/rules-global-banks-interest-rate-125126298.html

Efforts to protect the world's banks from interest-rate risks are bogged down, with an agreement on new rules likely to be delayed by at least several months, people involved in the discussions said. Basel Committee negotiators have reached an impasse on the rate-risk requirements, two people involved in the process told Reuters, with Britain and Germany seeking requirements for banks to increase their capital, whereas the United States and Japan argue that the issue should continue to be left to local regulators.

"As the discussions are going now, reaching an agreement looks difficult," one source said of the talks in the Swiss financial centre.

As part of the response to the 2007-2009 financial crisis, the Basel Committee of banking supervisors has been toughening rules such as requirements for stronger capital buffers to prevent or combat future crises. They are also planning rules to ensure banks can withstand sharp moves in interest rates, which are at historic lows around the world. The issue takes on particular significance as the Federal Reserve is expected to raise U.S. interest rates in coming months, with potential ripple effects for banks and markets worldwide.

But as the banking crisis fades in memory, only to be replaced by a lingering economic slowdown, governments are losing interest in financial reform and focusing on economic growth, despite warnings that dangers still lurk...

I JUST DON'T SEE THE US BEING STUPID ENOUGH TO RAISE INTEREST RATES IN THE FACE OF SO MUCH RISK

BUT I'VE BEEN WRONG BEFORE ON THE STUPIDITY OF US GOVT.

No one in this world, so far as I know - and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me - has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people.

H. L. Mencken

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/h/hlmencke134033.html#qLYjmhOEy1hDm2P0.99

SINCE THIS IS A GOVERNMENT OF, BY AND FOR THE PEOPLE, THAT GOES TRIPLE FOR US GOVERNMENT.