When the managing director of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, issues warnings like this: “There is no economy in the world, whether low-income countries, emerging markets, middle-income countries or super-advanced economies that will be immune to the crisis that we see not only unfolding but escalating.” [Source] it is time to take stock of where we are …
Category archives: Political/Economic
Small milestones
Oil remains volatile, with prices falling despite low US stocks. UK-based banks are swapping their liquid assets for the illiquid assets of European lenders — but does the resulting mix have a lower or higher risk of contagion? Use of the renminbi to settle cross-border trades fell.
The next agro-industrial revolution
The Earth is full and over the past ten years increasing demand from emerging markets has erased all the resource-price declines of the last century. A new report from McKinsey says three key trends look set to make this situation more difficult and more volatile: people in developing nations are looking to increase their standards of living, …
A silver bullet?
The solution to the financial crisis is straightforward. As Richard Douthwaite and others have pointed out, the problem we face is not a lack of money. Rather it is the fact that our money has been lent into existence. As we are now discovering, this creates an inherently unstable system of debt, in which default …
Solution to the eurozone crisis: treat the people as the priority
New US unemployment figures are at a seven month low, adding to the view that the American economy is strengthening. But in Europe the crisis is deepening.
Innovation in money and music (and agriculture)
In the third quarter this year, as prices fell, central banks made their largest purchases of gold for 40 years. The buying was led by the central banks of emerging countries such as Thailand, Mexico, and South Korea. The value of foreign currencies and government debt at the moment are volatile at best, so it …
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“Most worrying day of the crisis so far”
As fear drives eurozone debt markets and economies markedly downwards, and the increased volatility makes good money for some, the underlying grievance of the Occupy Wall Street movement can now be seen mirrored clearly in the European crisis. The tension is effectively between those who believe that inequality is divisive and we should all pull together (Germany), …
As financial systems and economies worsen, innovation comes from an unlikely source
After some apparently good news yesterday, the news today has turned distinctly sour. As stories in the FT show: The world’s financial systems still seem to be getting worse, not better European solutions seem to be tinkering at the edges The ‘real’ economy is becoming increasingly volatile Innovation is needed
Turning the corner?
A generally upbeat set of stories in the FT this morning: The Bank of England’s executive director of financial stability has called for risk rules for lending to small businesses to be temporarily relaxed. Although counterintuitive in some ways, it would help to smooth business cycles: encouraging activity in a downturn and reducing the support given …
Stability of the financial system: perception, reality, and leadership
As this recent article in the FT put it, “When it comes to managing sovereign debt crises, perception is all.” We might add, “perception [not reality] is all”. The latest update on this situation is that the UK government’s borrowing costs have now fallen to historic lows, as investors seek safety from the perceived risks of Italy and …
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