Back in March the ECB predicted 2014 inflation would be 1.0%, with prices rising to 1.3% in 2015. Since then one can say that deflation has once again taken hold, and following two consecutive cuts to 2014 inflation expectations, moments ago Draghi just released the ECB's latest set of inflation expectations. In a nutshell: in just 9 short months, the ECB's current year inflation forecast has been cut in half, with 2015 inflation also down nearly 50%, from 1.3% to 0.7%.
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Of course, now that deflation is apparently stimulative according to the global Keynesian think tank, because plunging oil prices are supposedly a "tax cut" equivalent and will "force consumers to spend more", this is good news right?
Well, maybe not. Because while Europe's troubled consumers will indeed have greater purchasing power, deflation is now rapidly becoming the norm in Europe, as can be seen in the following "worst case" inflation assumptions used in the ECB's latest, October, stress test. Yes, the ECB did infact assume 1.0% inflation for 2014, and no deflation ever "because it simply just can't happen."
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And remember: when it comes to inflation, the ECB couldn't care less about the middle-class. All it cares about is inflating away those trillions in Non-Performing Loans plaguing Europe's insolvent banks, which when all is said and done, the ECB, aka Europe's "bad hedge fund" will have no choice but to monetize.
