It took until Saturday for a central banker to cut through the waffle (Polly Waffle?*). Agustin Carstens, general manager of the Bank of International Settlements and former head of Mexico's central bank:
- Reversing globalization "could increase prices, raise unemployment and crimp growth"
- Higher tariffs could drive up U.S. inflation and force the Fed to raise rates, driving up the dollar and hurting both U.S. exporters and emerging market economies in the process, Carstens said
- Protectionism threatens "to unsettle financial markets and put a drag on firms' capital spending, as investors take fright and financial conditions tighten"
Reuters have more here, as does the Australian Financial Review (which may be gated)
The other speeches seemed to tip toe around, Carstens' was much better.
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* The reference to Polly Waffle might only make sense to some Australians. For everyone else a quick explanation
- Its a chocolate bar sort of thing, or at least it was, dunno if its being made any more
- Its appearance was often remarked upon unfavourably
