We’ve all had a bad night.  One too many drinks, one comment we should have kept to ourselves about the way the blouse fit that girl. We’ve all been there.

Then you start spending money. Everyone needs a drink and your wallet is open!  Of course you need to tip the dancers.  Somehow, as the endless night goes on, you just keep taking money out, and in the morning it’s all gone. And what do you have to show for it?

It’s morning in America now, and throughout the world, and boy is there one big hangover.

In 2008, when the financial system was falling apart, governments didn’t really know what to do, so they just did everything! I mean, WTF, it’s not money that any politician or bureaucrat actually had to earn, and spending other peoples’ money is always fun.

So, what does $12.3 trillion buy you, when you wake up the morning after and see what you have to show for that crazy night out?

Apparently, not much. Jeff Cox of CNBC did the math, and found that crazy spending by the US Fed and other Central Banks around the world has been, well, a complete failure, resulting in slow growth, distorted markets, and other unintended consequences.

Oh yeah, and when you have a crazy night out,  you feel kinda sick when you check your credit card bill.  Well governments are pretty much in the same place; none of the benefits actually materialized, but the huge debt from the spending binge? That’s very real.

 

Read the CNBC analysis here.