When central banks become one-stop policy shops

ALL AROUND the world politicians are exercised by the yawning gap between haves and have-nots. For every $1 the average white American household earned in 2019, the average black one made only 51 cents. For every $1 in wealth held by a white household, a black one owned just 15 cents. Joe Biden came into the presidency promising to tackle such disparities, vowing that “The dream of justice for all will be deferred no longer.” In New Zealand Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister, promised to “make homeownership possible again”. House prices went up by more than 25% in 2021, making property among the least affordable in the OECD club of mostly rich countries. “Anyone else want to leave New Zealand purely because of the housing crisis?” asked one buyer on an online forum. “This housing market sucks.” In China, the conspicuous gap between rich and poor and slowing social mobility spurred President Xi Jinping to launch a campaign of “common prosperity” last year, which took aim at everything from tech firms to celebrities.