Blackstone CEO explains what falling global rates signal
Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman said during an interview on "Maria Bartiromo's Wall Street" that falling interest rates worldwide signal the global economy is slowing down and central banks are trying to stop it.
His comments come on the heels of the Federal Reserve cutting its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points on Wednesday, citing weakening exports and low inflation. And just last week the European Central Bank cut rates by 10 basis points to their lowest level ever.
When Bartiromo asked Schwarzman whether cutting rates by a quarter-point is going to work, he replied: “It depends” on what part in the world.
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“When you get interest rates so low, at a certain point they really don’t have an effect. In other words, if you look at Europe -- I don’t know the exact statistic -- I think it’s about a third of the countries have negative rates. I don’t even understand what negative rates are. Why would I pay somebody … to hold my money?” he said.