Press

On 19 March, William White was interviewed by BNN, the Canadian business network associated with Bloomberg. He pointed out how this prospective economic downturn differs from that experienced in 2008-9, and laid out some alternative scenarios as to how events might unfold. While generally praising the prompt and significant response of central banks and governments to date, he noted that unfolding events might yet call for more action. The interview can also be found on the website of the C D Howe Institute, where Mr. White is a Senior Fellow.

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/video/economist-who-predicted-the-last-financial-crisis-warns-of-a-debt-bubble-pop-amid-the-covid-19~1924800

William White was interviewed on March 16 (see 4 minute mark) by “7:30”, Australia’s TV News and  Current Affairs flagship. He suggested that the global economy had been an accident waiting to  happen, due to the many “imbalances” that had been allowed to build up over many years. If the prices of financial assets were to fall significantly, it was very likely that house prices would also be affected. It was unrealistic to think that marginally lower interest rates could suffice to sort out these deep seated problems.

http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/governments-and-the-reserve-bank-working-on-new/12065060

In an interview in early December 2019, William White suggested that central banks had given too much importance to the pursuit of price stability in recent decades. There are no costs associated with declining prices when the underlying cause is increases in productivity. Moreover, resisting disinflationary pressures with monetary easing, cycle after cycle, leads to a buildup of  debt and other economic imbalances that do more to threaten sustainable growth than to sustain it. Accordingly, more reliance should be put on fiscal policy in the next economic downturn. Indeed, it was a mistake not to have done so earlier.

Jonathan Roth, an associate of John Mauldin,  interviewed William White and Grant Williams (a co-founder of Real Vision) on October 9, 2020.  Both agreed, for a whole host of reasons, that negative policy rates were not a good idea. They were unlikely to stimulate aggregate demand as desired, and could have undesirable and unintended side effects.

https://vimeo.com/user93524913/review/365922142/f87b7753ff

William White was interviewed, along with Grant Williams, by Jonathon Ross of Mauldin Economics. The interview was part of a series entitled the “Seven Deadly Sins” directed to identifying vulnerabilities in the global economy and to shortcomings in the policy responses to these vulnerabilities. This particular interview focuses on the undesirable implications of introducing negative interest rates to stimulate aggregate demand. They will not work as intended and will have unintended consequences.

https://vimeo.com/user93524913/review/365922142/f87b7753ff