it appears the world's central bankers are more concerned with deflation than inflation, and are prepared to reduce interest rates to zero. this will be mega-bullish for gold and silver once the hedge fund de-leveraging process is behind us.

Nov. 7 (Bloomberg) -- The age of free money may be at hand.

As major central banks slash interest rates with unexpected speed, benchmark borrowing costs are now below core inflation for the first time since the early 1980s, and policy makers are signaling they will go deeper.

Yesterday's cuts by the Bank of England and European Central Bank, which came with the Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan on the cusp of zero rates, are a bid to shock life back into their recessionary economies and strained money markets. It may be an uphill battle as consumers and businesses show greater interest in saving than spending, and banks hoard capital rather than lend it.

``It's the race to zero,'' said Stewart Robertson, an economist at Aviva Investors Ltd. in London, which manages about $230 billion. ``There's no obstacle to more rate cuts.''

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...