Dear Sir,

The United States Federal Reserve and the Bank of England are the arsonists who started the inflation fires, and they are now trying to put the fires out.

The United States Federal Reserve and the Bank of England had no other choice but to inject money into the economy from the early 2000s until now. The choice was an economic depression or inflation. The public enjoy the benefit of inflation, saving them from disaster. The bankers benefit the most.

The banks make disastrous lending decisions and the banks of last resort have no other choice but to bail them out. If the banks are not bailed out, public confidence will be destroyed. If you destroy public confidence, our democratic systems fail.

Now that inflation is out of control and destroying our money, the banks have to raise interest rates in order to slow the demand for money. In Bermuda, banks claim they must raise interest rates in order to be aligned with US interest rates.

If Bermuda’s banks have lent mortgages, long-term debt, and they are not matched, they need to be shut down. If they have lent mortgages and they are matched, they should be placed in jail for robbery. Given the recent report that their profits have increased by nearly 40 per cent, we can conclude they are robbers and should be placed in jail.

Bermuda’s bankers are an existential threat to this economy. The Bermuda Government does not control its monetary policy, the most powerful economic tool a government can possess. The Bermuda Government is allowing the foxes to protect its henhouse.

The Bermuda Monetary Authority is not a regulator; it is a facilitator of the Bermuda banks’ bad behaviour. The BMA should be prohibited from making false claims that it is a regulator, as clearly it does not regulate anything. The BMA regulates access.

Unfortunately, we need the arsonist; the arsonists need a better public relations programme.

CRAIG WALLS

St George’s