US Fed puts China on edge of a liquidity trap

The volatility in the yuan over the last week dramatizes the difficult street ahead for the People’s Bank of China (PBOC).

PBOC Governor Yi Gang spent the last six-plus months trying to accomplish a precarious balancing act: supporting flagging growth while stopping surging global inflation from upending Asia’s biggest economy.

This feat is getting harder by the day thanks to  Yi’s version in Washington, Jerome Powell . At Federal Reserve headquarters, Chief excutive Powell is scrambling to clean up chaos of his own creation.

Because the Given didn’t tighten when it could – state, 12 months ago – it’s playing catchup on the worst  inflation in 40 years. Today, fears of economic downturn have Powell on the tightrope the likes of that the Fed has never had to navigate.