278 THE BiG DROP
inside the, 103–17
insolvency of the, 180
major flaws in economic models of
the, 177–80
monetary policy of the, since 2009,
27, 108
optimal-control model and model
of communications policy used by
the, 178–80
players within the, 103–107
policy goals of the, 68–70
powerlessness of the, in the face of
structural problems, 16
unfortunate centrality of the, to
world markets, 109
Federal Reserve Bank of New York, as
most powerful regional reserve
bank, 104
Fedwire, Iran kicked out of, 127
feedback loops
gold price affected by, 147
in hyperinflation, 47, 50
Fergusson, Adam, on Weimar Germany,
239
financial attacks by sovereign wealth
funds, 31–32
financial contagion, 99–100, 141, 172,
174–76
financial crisis
in 1998, 83–84
in 2008, 84
causes of the next, 267–68
comparing 2007’s to the oil bust’s,
90–91
comparison of, of today and that of
1998, 171–77
dynamics leading to a, 268
under enemy hedge fund scenario, 32
at outbreak of World War I, 21
U.S. and Chinese responses to,
compared, 77
financial panic. See financial crisis
financial regulations, repeal of, 37
financial regulators
governing hedge fund lending, 84
mistake by, of fighting the last war,
83–84surprised by 2008 panic, 84
financial repression
in China, 74
in dystopian future, 5
risk of, increased through higher as-
set concentration, 18–19
through inflation, 18, 33
through zero interest-rate policy, 179
financial risk
increased through asset swaps, 179
increased through higher asset con-
centration, 18
threatening future financial melt-
down, 100, 257
twarning of excessive, 10, 11, 268
Financial Times, energy-related corpo-
rate debt estimated by the, 84–85
financial volatility, currency wars’
increase in, 141
financial war game, 126–29, 253
financial warnings
by the author, xii
by the Bank for International
Settlements, 9–10
insulating political officials by issu-
ing, 12
technical nature of, 11–12
financial wars, 124–36
currency wars vs., 124
as the intersection of the national
defense community and the finan-
cial sector, 125
between Iran and United States,
127–28
as motivated by desire for economic
advantage or political gain, 125
private meeting among experts to
discuss, 131–35
between Russia and the United
States, 130–36, 204–205
fiscal dominance, and the myth of central
bank independence, 238–39
Fischer, Stan, warning of weak world
growth given by, 11
Fisher, Irving
debt-deflation theory of depression
proposed by, 70–71, 97–98