Top Stories

US

US Labor Market

World economy 12th December 2013

The US labor market: Myth and reality

WASHINGTON | By Pablo Pardo | For all the talk about the jobless recovery, Barack Obama has, in less than 5 years, created three times more jobs than George W. Bush did in eight years. Under the current president’s tenure, 3,140,000 jobs have been added to the US economy. It is not a bad record of achievement, at least taking into account that, in January 2009—when Obama moved to the White House–, the United States destroyed 600,000 jobs, its worst number in 34 years. Talk about legacies.

No Picture

World economy 4th December 2013

Positioning for the unstable Fed equilibrium

LONDON | By Barclays analysts | A new equilibrium has emerged where the Fed has managed to anchor front end rates via rates guidance while preparing markets for tapering. This environment remains risk friendly, but its stability is vulnerable to the speed of the recovery.

Federal Reserve Now Dominates Monetary Economics Profession

World economy 3rd December 2013

Federal Reserve Now Dominates Monetary Economics Profession

SAO PAULO | By Benjamin Cole at Marcus Nunes’ Historinhas | It is an old trick question: What state has not one but two of the 12 regional banks of the United States Federal Reserve System? Is it New York state, the nation’s financial, commercial and manufacturing powerhouse when the Fed was founded in 1913? Answer: Missouri.

FED Higher inflation target

World economy 21st November 2013

Higher inflation target: A communication issue

LONDON | By Michael Pond and Chirag Mirani at Barclays | Some at the Fed believe that a higher inflation target could be a good strategy, though one that is difficult to communicate. Instead, in our view, it has an implicit near-term tolerance for above-target inflation; forward breakevens should be higher as a result.

Low quality of FED governors

World economy 14th November 2013

The low quality of some Fed Governors and the freedom to “speak-out”!

SAO PAULO | By Marcus Nunes | It is encouraging that Obama may soon have to fill up to 5 slots in the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. Maybe it´s expecting too much that he´ll think that´s a very important thing to happen at times like the present. He´s already ‘failed’ in a previous instance when he had 3 slots to fill, leaving them open for a long time and even failing to get an appointee approved! The low quality of some recent Fed Governors is glaring.

US credibility

World economy 11th November 2013

U.S. Credibility to Europeans (After a Government Shutdown and a Spying Scandal)

MADRID | By Adrianna Rodriguez* | The past year has been rocky for the United States, to say the least: Edward Snowden released the most significant leak in recent history; German leaders now think twice about their after hours phone calls, and the US spent about $24 billion on a national tantrum. It’s simpler to say that the country has finally lost all credibility in European eyes, however, that’s not necessarily the case. How is it that Washington can go through all this nonsense and still appear on top?

No Picture

World economy 30th October 2013

U.S. Spying Scandal: Europe’s Sputnik moment

BERLIN | By at Cicero via Presseurop | Beyond the outrage, the American spying scandal should serve as a wake-up call to the Europeans. Just like the first Soviet satellite pushed the Americans to go into space, these revelations should motivate the Europeans to catch up in information technology.