The Zman (@TheZBlog)

Europe is plotting to fix retail energy prices. The gap between the fixed price and the "market price" will be filled by money printing, but, that money printing will be treated as a loan. The utility will have to pay it back. The other side of this is that when prices return to normal, the utility will keep prices elevated to recoup the prior subsidies. In effect the EU is lending its citizens money to pay their utility bills, without telling them that they are creating a debt for them. Example Cornelius is paying $1000 a month right now. In the past, it was $200 a month, but the real price right now is $1500. That $500 is a debt that will be paid back when prices fall. So when the market price is back to $200, Cornelius will keep paying the $1000 rate until the deficit is made up. The utilities will be able to use those future payments, plus interest, as security for additional borrowing right now. In other words, they are using this to create new debt instruments, which will profit the financial houses at the further expense of the people. If wholesale prices do not return the old levels, then the utilities will face what is, in effect, a massive short squeeze. They will go bankrupt or require another bailout. Prices will never return to the old levels, so this trick is really just creating a bigger credit bubble in the future to solve the collapsing credit bubble in the present.