He makes a fair point. If credit rationing becomes necessary it will be the government exerting more control over the economy than a lot of us are comfortable with. Picking winners and losers doesn't sound good. The problem is assuming even for a second that that's anywhere close to "planned economy." A "planned economy" is the state deciding to nationalize most private enterprise, not the central bank engaging in credit rationing. The whole point of this is to encourage economic growth because it has slowed to a crawl. And unlike an actual planned economy, they can always go back to a positive interest rate. It's a short-term experiment. Generally central bankers aren't in the business of trying to cripple the market. I feel like we're on the verge of another recession. Not for any external reason, but just due to the business cycle. It's been 11 years.