Hong Kong stock trading opened deep in the red last night, the Hang Seng share index falling by as much as 1.6% before rallying. We’ve seen this behavior before, notably in 2015 and early 2016. Hong Kong is supposed to be an island of stability amidst stalwart attempts near the city to mimic its results if not its methods. Thus, most kinds of turmoil are noticeable. Most.

My own brief survey of this morning’s news from Asia seems to suggest mainstream opinion coalescing on PBOC Governor Zhou Xiaochuan for the blame in Hong Kong. The central banker published an unscheduled post at the bank’s website that was a bit more profound and direct than is typical. Anything is possible, but HKD turmoil that nobody seems to care about would be a more likely cause in my view.

Still, Zhou’s sudden essay that appeared on Saturday, the day after some real fireworks in Hong Kong money, should stir some serious global reflection. To start with, this isn’t the first time China’s central bank chief has made a cryptic warning of sorts. In early 2014, he was especially blunt about the situation then facing China.

If the central bank is not a part of the government, it is not efficient in coordinating policies to push forward reforms. Our choice has its own rational reasons behind it. But this choice also has its costs. For example, whether we can efficiently cope with asset bubbles and inflation is questionable.

The tone of his message was such that it almost seemed Zhou was thinking about China’s big problem as an externality. At the very same moment the Western media was, but of course, still describing the PBOC under his leadership in near omniscient terms, so his statement stood out against the dominant groupthink.

To me, it was a pretty clear message that the PBOC was instead quite worried. As I wrote a few days later in April 2014:

That last sentence sound suspiciously like CYA. Don’t blame us when it all falls apart? It certainly contradicts the mainstream assessment of near-perfect sagacity, conforming instead far more closely to what I believe to be the real extent of central bank reach.

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