The Fed isn't alone. Markets respond to TOTAL global liquidity, and other central banks matter — sometimes decisively.

The Major Central Banks:

PBoC (China): The world's second-largest balance sheet. China often moves counter-cyclically to the US: when the Fed tightens (fighting inflation), PBoC may ease (fighting deflation/property crisis). This 'Global Relay' can offset US tightening.

ECB (Europe): Constrained by fragmentation — must balance inflation fighting with preventing spread blowouts between German and Italian bonds. Their TLTRO programs and emergency interventions matter for European banks.

BoJ (Japan): The outlier. Near-zero rates for decades, yield curve (T10Y2Y) control (capping 10Y yields), and a balance sheet exceeding 100% of GDP. The BoJ enables the yen carry trade — arguably the largest hidden liquidity force in global markets.

BoE (UK): Smaller but systemically important. The 2022 gilt crisis showed how fast UK policy can affect global markets.

The Global Liquidity Concept:

Global Liquidity = Fed + PBoC + ECB + BoJ + BoE + others

Markets care about this aggregate. When the Fed is tightening but PBoC is easing, global liquidity may be stable or even rising. This explains why 2023 wasn't worse — China's easing partially offset US tightening.

The Global Relay:

'East saving West' is a real phenomenon. When US liquidity contracts, check if Asia is offsetting. Bitcoin (BTCUSD) and global risk assets respond to total liquidity, not just US liquidity.