World politics

US markets

The Gap Between The US Stock Market And The Real Economy Has Increased Sharply Due To Covid19

Last week there were sharp falls in the stock markets (-4%/-5% in Europe, -6%/-7% in the US), with the biggest drops since March. In a context of a significant disconnection between prices and fundamentals after the sharp rises from the March lows, which were discounting an unlikely “V” recovery, these downward moves seem logical. Also the upward excesses, which until last week were the protagonists. Our correspondent in Washington, Pablo Pardo, analyses this stock market and economic chaos.


whote house protests

The Crisis of Presidentiality in the US

Peter Isackson | Can the oligarchs in Wall Street and Washington — a class that Trump himself belongs to despite his continuing to play the outsider — bring back some semblance of order in the face of growing discontent? Are there any imaginable reforms they could agree to and which the malcontents could accept? Or can they find some kind of improvised fix just to survive until the elections? The nation awaits a “presidential” response.


Trump Biden 1

The 2020 Pandemic Election

Saurabh Jha via Fair Observer| When the COVID-19 pandemic is dissected in the 2020 presidential election debates, Donald Trump will be at a disadvantage. The coronavirus has killed over 100,000 Americans and maimed thousands more. The caveat is that deaths per capita, rather than total deaths, better measure national failure, and by that metric the US fares better than Belgium, Italy and the United Kingdom.


trump and xi

Markets Shrug Off Sino-US Tensions

Yves Bonzon (Julius Baer)| The tensions between Washington and Beijing seem to be increasing almost every day. After the US administration ratcheted up its criticism of China’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, trade tensions have again heated up. News has emerged that China would like to renegotiate the phase-1 trade agreement signed earlier this year as it is increasingly viewed as unfair domestically. This has categorically been ruled out by US President Donald Trump.


sicilian mafia godfather

Eating Alone

Keith Godfrey | “You eat alone, you choke” is an ancient proverb with origins lost in the mists of time. In Mafia circles it expresses their family centred, ruthless sense of unity and purpose and celebrates tight-knit self-propelling interest. And yet, as we know even in the best regulated Mafia families every now and then those interests can pull in different directions. When that happens, the family member breaking ranks is said to “eating alone”. The implication is that bad things will soon follow. And worst of all, whether from lack of protection or because of overzealous protection from outside parties, eating alone makes for bad business.


This is how ancient Rome’s republic died – a classicist sees troubling parallels at Trump’s impeachment trial

“Donald Trump would like to be a Dictator,” says George Soros

Soros was speaking in an interview entitled The Crisis of a Lifetime with the journalist and author Gregor Peter Schmidtz, published by Project Syndicate. He argues that “Donald Trump would like to be a dictator” but cannot because there is a constitution in the United states that people still respect though “that doesn’t mean he will not try”. “I put my faith in Trump to destroy himself, and he has exceeded my wildest expectations”.


coronavirus china

The Week That Was: Some Are Taking Back Control, Others Are Stranded In Iowa

Christian Gattiker (Julius Baer) | Policymakers in China made a credible move in their attempt to regain control over the current situation. After injecting liquidity into financial markets, they announced the potential for a cure/vaccination available soon and later cut some tariffs on US imports. Fear-stricken markets took a sigh of relief.


US 2020 election outcomes you're not watching

US 2020 Election Outcomes You’re Not Watching

This article focuses on the 2020 US Election, which formally kicks off next week with the February 3 Iowa Caucuses. In this piece, experts at BNY Mellon Daniel Tenengauzer and John Velis explore how markets may react as political events unfold in the run-up to November 3.