Euro-zone monetary policy is subsidizing the finance industry to such a degree that national central banks are having to curtail the cash distributions they normally hand to governments. The sting in the tail of the European Central Bank’s massive pandemic stimulus, in particular its so-called TLTRO program of loans, is that monetary authorities from Estonia to Austria are facing reduced earnings. That means less money feeding into national treasuries. The smaller profits, or even losses, are tangible evidence of how monetary policy is straying into territory more usually occupied by fiscal authorities. That’s a ... (full story)