WASHINGTON, D.C. Aug. 27 (DPI) –  A sad fact laid bare in recent weeks: The world’s major stock markets are today brought to you by sovereign nations desperately trying to influence investor and popular sentiment, as central banks – from the Fed to the Bank of China – look for ever more monetary and fiscal levers to pull.  No longer are stock markets – or bond markets, for that matter – good indicators of private business performance or sentiment.  And that of course has huge implications for the US and global economies in the near-term. A recession with strong deflation? Or a muddle along – as we have now – with choppy growth at best?

As Bill Bonner wrote on David Stockman’s Contra Corner this week:

This is the start of the sell-off, not the end: Capitalism is innocent. This was an inside job – a crime committed by the cronies and their enablers in government. It was their way, not only of giving themselves trillions of dollars of other people’s money, but also of holding onto the power, status, and wealth they’d accumulated over the last three decades.

Politicians had no more interest in solving this “problem” than a wolf wants to solve the problem of too many fat sheep. But don’t worry. A real bear market will take care of it!

http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/this-is-the-start-of-the-sell-off-not-the-end/

Of course, bearish analysts may be trying to fulfill their own prophecies – but their views may also help the global economic situation from getting worse.  In any case, it appears that Washington policies – continued zero-interest rate policies coupled with years of money printing masquerading as a bond-buying program called “quantitative easing” – will finally be getting its report card.