The Bank of Japan buying equities? What could go wrong?
This certainly invites the question of whether a "government-backed equity measure" should even be a thing. Greenspan (the Ayn Rand disciple) decided in 1987 that the US government wasn't going to let the Dow fall, and in so doing ruined the stock market. Socialized losses and privatized gains have been official policy here for almost 30 years, so I suppose it's no wonder that other governments would want to keep pace. Gotta attract the best minds.The central bank is aware such products aren’t yet available and in the meantime will buy ETFs tracking the JPX-Nikkei Index 400, a government-backed equity measure started last year that chooses companies based on return on equity and operating profit. The BOJ also already purchases ETFs linked to the Nikkei 225 Stock Average and Topix index and owns roughly half of the market for ETFs in Japan.
When you are printing money right into the stock market, what has happened? Seriously, what is the objection to helicopters full of cash? A liquidity trap might be better termed a 'class trap'. Central bankers just can't seem to devise a solution that doesn't begin with the upper crust. The first solution is to flood the banks with cash. Here in the US, that resulted in a bond market bubble fueled equities bubble. It appears the BOJ is going straight for the equities bubble route. Can you imagine what happens once the government has its list of targeted equities? You want inflation and economic stimulus? Mail everyone a $500 t-note that matures the next day. I can't see this as anything other than a failure of imagination that stems from extreme economic isolation.