In the select club of central bankers it’s fashionable to play around with the idea of negative interest rates. Sweden’s central bank became the standard bearer for this new trend.
In economic theory, “one person’s spending is another person’s income,” which drives aggregate demand in the economy. Often, this cycle breaks due to flawed economic policymaking that ends in economic crisis.
The big hope of political self-starters like Donald Trump are those voters without a university education, once members of the US middle-class, who accounted for 36% of the electorate in the last elections.
Guntram B. Wolff via Caixin | G-20 ministers in Shanghai appeared to be aware of the importance of structural work. In particular, there was agreement in our panel discussions that the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project of the OECD was an essential element to deal with tax avoidance and ensure that profits are taxed where economic activity generating it takes place.
Benjamin Cole via Historinhas | It is too bad in some regards that Richard “Inspector Clouseau” Fisher, the former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, in no longer ensconced in that position. For one, he was always great copy. For seconds, he was one of the most infallible reverse indicators of Post War Era, and economic soothsayers could bet against a Fisherian proclamation with a rare calm.
Caixin | The 2008 global financial crisis thrust Ben Bernanke into the spotlight as his every move drew unprecedented attention, scrutiny continued until he stepped down as chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve in 2014.
The refugee crisis shows no respect for pacts. Not even the stability pact, which is difficult to enforce when many countries vote for change facing an economy without growth. It’s easier to wait for money from heaven.
Francesco Saraceno | Mario Draghi had no choice. The increasingly precarious macroeconomic situation, deflation that stubbornly persists, and financial markets that happily cruise from one nervous breakdown to another, had cornered the ECB. It could not, it simply could not, risk to fall short of expectations as it had happened last December.
Julius Baer Research | Oil seemingly maintains last week’s positive momentum and prices continue to rally in early Monday morning trade. There was indeed a set of supportive news pushing Brent benchmark prices close to USD 40 per barrel.
Spain’s political debate is going on between two irreconcilable adversaries, each one with its own issues. Meanwhile, in the back room where the accounts are done, there is hard work going on to refinance the public and private debt which matures every day. Without some tailwinds, Spain (BBB) could once again find itself facing serious problems.