Nick Ottens via Atlantic Sentinel | Now that Donald Trump’s Rasputin, Steve Bannon, has declared open season on Republicans, will the party finally see its president for the saboteur he is?
Hans Dietmar Schweisgut via Caixin | There has been quite some noise recently about EU-China trade relations, including frustration at the slow pace of market reforms, accusations of protectionism, calls for reciprocity, debate on industrial overcapacity, investment screening systems, and cross-border acquisitions.
Benjamin Cole | The worldwide bond market tops $100 trillion, and we live in a world (as we are incessantly told) of global capital markets. All told, there is more than $217 trillion in global debt outstanding, and that figure rises by many trillions every year, reports the Institute of International Finance.
The central banks are still powerful. They can make the financial markets rise or plunge them into the doldrums. But the CBs need to scrutinise the financial system and its systemic risks more closely.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) issues a warning: household debt in advanced economies has risen on average from 52% to 63% of GDP in 2008-2016. In the developing world, household debt levels were lower, rising from 15% to 21% over the same period. But Spain’s case is different.
The latest set of September PMIs published yesterday showed that global economic growth momentum will remain very strong until year end, with the US, Europe and Japan set for even higher growth in Q4 2017 and only a minor cooling of economic growth in China. This bodes well for a continuation of US rate normalisation in December 2017.
Intermoney | This week we will see the publication of the first chapters of the IMF’s six-monthly report on Global Economic Perspectives, which should be more favourable than on previous occasions. The synchronisation and the strength of global growth is a reality and the data over the coming months won’t call this into question.
Late yesterday, Donald Trump outlined his plans for the overhaul of the US tax system in a speech in Indianapolis. The aim is to cut taxes by $1.5 trillion over 1o years, as well as simply the system.
Investors and observers have hailed the Fed’s decision to trim its balance sheet from October onwards as a turning point in the drive to normalise monetary policy. But a decline of $10 billion per month in the hefty portfolio the Fed has accumulated in recent years will hardly have any visible effect on the bond market.
Liu Xiao via Caixin |Initial coin offering (ICO), an increasingly popular crowdfunding phenomenon in which new cryptocurrencies make their debut, continues to make headlines. But this time it’s about the swift and broad crackdown of the sector in China.