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US imposed steel (25%) and aluminum (10%) duties on Europe, Canada and Mexico on May 31

Markets, World economy 5th June 2018

An Explanation Of The Steel And Aluminum Tariff War In 16 Points

US imposed steel (25%) and aluminum (10%) duties on Europe, Canada and Mexico on May 31, reflect Trump’s view of the world economy as a zero-sum game, meaning each country has to fight tooth-and-nail to get its hands on the biggest slice of the pie. As pointed by Philippe Waechter, Chief Economist at Ostrum AM, “this view is admittedly not helpful in understanding economic and growth momentum, but it is the view we are dealing with here.”

 

Companies buy political risk reports for their international operations

World economy 30th May 2018

Why Political Risk Reports May Be of Limited Value

Analysts increasingly talk of a VUCA world – Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous. Companies are waking up to the political and geopolitical threats to their international operations. But too often they limit their response to buying political risk reports on the countries they are operating in, or thinking of entering.

oilprices

World economy 29th May 2018

Oil Sector: What Goes Up, Must Come Down

For any investor who believes that $70/barrel is more or less the right price, then the European oil firms are currently fairly priced. Alphavalue recently upped their earnings forecasts to include $70/barrel as a new normality. This leaves the sector with an upside potential of +6% on a 6-month horizon.

The economic cold war between the US and China is here to stay

World economy 26th May 2018

Trump’s Trade War On China Doomed to Fail

F. William Engdahl via Caixin | Washington’s recent trade actions are aimed foursquare at China, not at the EU or other trade partners. However, the aim is not to reduce China exports to the U.S. The aim is a fundamental opening-up of the Chinese economy to the Washington free-market liberal reforms that China has steadfastly resisted.

Spain is also the second country in Europe with the lowest costs in digital banking

Markets, World economy 21st May 2018

The Future of Banking: Secure Money and Deregulation of the Financial System

In a conference by Miguel Fernández Ordóñez, Governor of the Bank of Spain from 2006 to 2012, at the Ramón Areces Foundation in Madrid, he tried to find out whether, within the technology-generated changes, there is one that is “disruptive”, that can produce a radical change in the banking activity of such importance that, as is happening with other industries, it forces private banks to transform themselves into companies very different from those that exist today.

climate change 1325882 1280

World economy 20th May 2018

Global famine is a scandal, but it’s not news

Donato Ndongo | We know the Earth produces enough food to feed its 7.5 million inhabitants. But 11% of them die every year due to famine or a lack of drinkable water. So 815 million people, including 5.6 million children.

Argentina has officially asked for help from the IMF

World economy 11th May 2018

Argentina Puts Itself Into The Hands Of The IMF

President of Argentina, Mauricio Macri, has not taken long to see the writing on the wall: he has officially asked for help from the IMF. On Monday, the peso/$ devalued 5%, which is a savage drop. Domestic and foreign equity have completely lost confidence in the economic governance and have fled terrified, with huge losses, given the peso’s accumulated depreciation.