January 23, 2015 4:38PM # Banks Are ‘Under Assault’ By [Steve H. Hanke](https://www.cato.org/people/steve-h-hanke) --- SHARE J.P. Morgan Chase’s CEO Jamie Dimon has it right when he asserts that banks are “[under assault.](http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2015/01/14/jpmorgan-chase-profit-declines-7-percent/?_r=0)” This has put a damper on the source of 80 percent of the U.S. money supply, broadly measured. The [CFS Divisia M4](http://www.centerforfinancialstability.org/amfm/Divisia_Dec14.pdf) is growing at an anemic 2.2 percent on a year-over-year basis. Since the course of nominal national income is determined by the money supply, it’s not surprising that U.S. growth is also anemic. [Final Sales to Domestic Purchasers](https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/bank-capital-punishment-other-nostrums), the best proxy for U.S. aggregate demand, has still not reached its trend rate of growth. In the face of these facts, I don’t anticipate that the Fed will (or should), “tighten” at its Federal Open Market Committee meetings on January 27–28. Nor do I think the Fed will tighten as soon as most people think. ##### Related Tags [General](https://www.cato.org/general) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).