Ning Zhu: Fed balance sheet expanded from sub-$1T in 2007 to nearly $9T peak
Ning Zhu · They Called The Trade Wars & China's Housing Crash | Nikhil Kamath | WTF is Finance Ep 4 · Nikhil Kamath · Jul 28, 2026 · at 26:55
Economist Ning Zhu describes the historical expansion of the Federal Reserve's balance sheet after the 2008 global financial crisis.
0:00 / 0:11exact quote · 11.5s
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube → 720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“Because in 2007, if I'm not mistaken, the balance sheet of the Fed is less than one trillion dollar. It was as high as almost nine trillion dollars, and now I think it's falling back to somewhere between six and seven.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Ning Zhu
Zhu: Historically, prolonged and unresolved trade imbalances lead to war
“In the old regime, I think when there is really prolonged and serious imbalance in trade, I think, I mean, if we use history as a benchmark, war is unfortunately the war that we would have to visit or revisit what that is when the two countries or countries, o…”
Zhu: China has no viable reserve alternative to the US dollar
“Even though we're not happy enough with the US dollar as a restoration of value, there's really no other alternative we can put the money into. Of course, gold is one possibility, but the market is not deep or large enough.”
Zhu: Chinese EVs will remain attractive in the West despite 100% tariffs
“Even if you levy a 100% tariff on new energy vehicles, China's new energy vehicles will still be very attractive in European market or maybe even in the States.”
Zhu: Quantitative easing fueled wealth inequality and extreme political movements
“Look at the stock market in the US, and look at the housing market in China up until twenty-twenty-one. Yes, we don't have increase in inflation or the CPI for many countries, but then most of the money went into asset prices and the property prices. So in a w…”
Ning Zhu: Stablecoin Adoption Is Solidifying US Dollar Dominance
“I think the introduction of a stable coin in the past, Couple of years, maybe solidifying solidifying US dollar's dominance in a way about RMB is not pushing as hard or as fast into that direction.”
Zhu: Developing nations must prioritize economic efficiency and growth over fairness
“Borrowing from the experience, the successful experience of China, I think I would say to start the country, I would put more emphasis on efficiency than fairness. Which is not very easy to sell, but I think that's going to lift the country.”