破局與重塑

Why the Fed is to blame for the boom in zombie companies

When interest rates are at zero, creditors are encouraged to renew financing to unproductive companies

The writer is a former member of the Monetary Policy Council in Poland. His co-author, Grzegorz Parosa, is head of equities at AXA’s investment arm in Poland and a doctoral student at Stanford University

Zombie companies — businesses whose operating profits are persistently lower than their interest payments — have something in common with high global inflation. Surprisingly, the root cause of both is the Federal Reserve.

How did we find ourselves in a situation where, according to a 2021 report, roughly 10 per cent of public companies in the US are zombies? The 2008 financial crisis scared policymakers. US and European central banks introduced unconventional monetary policies — ultra-low interest rates and large-scale asset purchasing programmes. When Lawrence Summers, former US Treasury secretary, claimed that the “natural” interest rate was negative, and thus conventional policies were ineffective, this was an excuse for monetary policymakers to keep their feet on the accelerator pedal. Focused on boosting demand, policymakers forgot about supply and started zombifying the economy.

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