China-Based Bank Shows Asia is Rising
By Jarno Lang | On June 29, under the leadership of China, 50 founding members signed contracts to create the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), with its main hub in Shanghai.
World economy
China PMI disappoints, reaching its lowest level since March 2009
London | Barclays | The Caixin ‘flash’ manufacturing PMI slipped to 47.0 in September, coming in below expectations and weighing on Q3 growth.
The imminent inflation increase
London | UBS | At the risk of making an obvious point, the fall in crude oil prices is not all there is to the impact of oil on consumer price inflation.
La Cina è vicina (China is Near)
Marco Bellochio was probably unaware of how close China could become when he directed his famous movie portraying a rotten Western society besieged by Mao’s revolutionary thrust. History eventually proved that the Little Red Book had less enduring success than the Holy Bible…
The Constitution on Chinese SOEs Reform
By Wang Lan via Caixin | The rules for China’s government provide space for the state-owned economy and public ownership, but this still allows for limiting the role of SOEs.
Rates: Back to the waiting game
The FED not only held unchanged its rates in its last FOMC meeting last week. It plunged investors into utter disarray by delivering an extremely dovish message on future action. The prospect of a hike this year loses steam while bewildered markets pull back to the waiting game.
Iceland: growth, sound(er) economy ≠ popularity
A short aside to those who think it’s only the economy, stupid – well, at least this is not the case in Iceland.
The secret room of the TTIP
BRUSSELS | In an attempt to win the public opinion battle, the European Commission has established an alternative judicial system to deal with cases between private investors and states. The previous investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) had been widely criticised for favouring big corporate interests.
Refugees, War and Our Future
By Veena Trehan | The refugee crisis is an opportunity to support the stateless and set up the necessary infrastructure in a world of unprecedented climate challenges. We turn our attention to Europe, compelled by shocking images of refugees’ deaths. To the stories of the stateless having identification numbers written on them and told their trains are headed to safety, rather than camps.
Lehman’s Mythical Fall Seven Years On: Banks With Higher Balances, But Working
Lehman Brothers’ collapse became a milestone representing the official start of the ongoing long economic crisis. Subprime mortgages had failed years before, then afterwards the crisis fuelled different situations such as the European bail-ins. Today marks seven years after the event. The risk from “too big to fail entities” remains.