Markets panic as the global economy enters a new phase

The world is awash with financial drama. Markets are swinging rapidly between extremes. Stocks — particularly banking ones — are largely declining and safer assets, such as bonds and gold, are on the rise. Falling global banking stocks are bringing uncomfortable feelings of deja vu to those of us who worked through the 2008 crisis. Deutsche Bank, in particular, is being referred to in some circles as “the new Lehman Brothers.” The German bank attempted to calm the storm on Wednesday by circulating plans for a sizable buyback of its own debt, demonstrating that it still has considerable finances at its disposal. Market concerns were somewhat eased as a result. However, Thursday last week saw Deutsche Bank’s stock drop once more.

Economic analysts are generally scratching their heads in bewilderment. The world’s banks do not seem to be any riskier than they were in 2015. They are certainly much safer and better capitalized than they were during the 2008 crisis. Some are arguing that the panic is caused by the Bank of Japan’s decision to lower interest rates below 0 percent — more commonly called negative interest rates — on Jan. 29. These new rates bode ill for the banking sector because they charge commercial banks for holding reserves, hurting banks’ profits as they become reluctant to pass on the costs to customers for fear of losing them.