Faber: Central banks will create global socialism
Central banks around the globe are pursuing strategies that will put all financial assets into government hands, perma-bear Marc Faber, told CNBC's Squawk Box. He also took the opportunity to endorse Donald Trump's bid for the U.S. presidency.
Faber said central bank policies are essentially monetizing debt, particularly in Japan, where he claims the Bank of Japan (BOJ) is buying all the government bonds the treasury is issuing.
He expects that asset buying by global central banks will only increase, even though he believes those policies aren't working to stimulate the economy.
"The central banks aren't interested in what works, they're interested in their own prestige. And they are so deep into it already and it didn't work. They will increase the medicine," said Faber, the publisher of The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report. "Eventually, they'll buy all the government bonds; they'll buy all the corporate bonds, all the shares outstanding. Afterwards the housing market goes down, they'll buy all the homes and then the government will own everything."
That's the road to socialism, he said.
"I could see a situation where at the end the government owns all the corporations and all the government bonds and then we are back into socialism, into a planning economy," said Faber.
To be sure, the Bank of Japan does not buy Japan government bonds (JGBs) directly from the treasury; it only purchases them in the open market. Since some entities, such as banks and insurers, are required to hold JGBs in their reserves, the BOJ is unlikely to acquire all of the bonds outstanding. The BOJ does, however, use its quantitative easing program to purchase select exchange traded funds (ETFs) in the open market.
The U.S. Federal Reserve began tapering its quantitative easing program in 2013 and officially ended it in late 2014.
But last week, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced further easing measures, including expanding the size of its bond-buying program to 80 billion euros ($89.23 billion) worth of assets a month, to include corporate bonds.
Faber expects these programs will only expand.
"The governments in my view, with their agents the Federal Reserve and other central banks and with the treasury department, they will do anything not to let asset prices go down," said Faber.
"If the stock markets go down, I'm convinced all the central banks will buy stocks. All of them," he said, noting that this is not without precedent, citing Hong Kong's purchase of stocks during the Asian Financial Crisis in the late 1990s.
Faber also took the opportunity to say he wanted Trump to take the White House in the U.S. election later this year, although he noted he's not eligible to vote.
"They basically hate Trump because he's not the party insider," Faber said. "He brings some fresh air into the whole process."
Faber added that he has "great sympathy" for the leading Republican candidate.
"I would vote for him for the simple reason that I think he's the only one that can really defeat Hillary Clinton and I would do anything if I were an American not to get Hillary Clinton as a president, anything."
Faber didn't elaborate on why he disapproves of Clinton as a candidate.
When asked how he felt about the possibility the Republican Party could still field Condoleezza Rice, who was secretary of state during the George W. Bush administration, as an 11th hour candidate, Faber said the idea made him feel sick.
"I think she was a horrible secretary of state," Faber said, without elaborating.
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—By CNBC.Com's Leslie Shaffer; Follow her on Twitter @LeslieShaffer1
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