Showing 1 - 10 of 168
US can't rely on inflation shamanism
News, Published on 23/09/2024
» Google "shamanism" and you will find that it is "a tradition of part-time religious specialists who establish and maintain personalistic relations with specific spirit beings through the use of controlled and culturally scripted altered states of consciousness." Every element of that definition applies to monetary policymaking today, as illustrated by the reaction to the US Federal Reserve's Sept 18 decision to cut the short-term interest rate by 50 basis points.
Markets may be sending a signal
News, Published on 12/08/2024
» What looks like a financial market in disarray may instead just be normalisation that will ultimately help insulate investment portfolios rather than sending them to the ground.
Steep learning curves -- election heat for bonds
News, Published on 05/07/2024
» Some might wonder why it took so long, but the risk that this year's key elections exaggerate rather than rein in bloated public debt is finally seeing long-term sovereign bonds rear up.
Strongman Prabowo learns who really calls shots
News, Daniel Moss, Published on 27/06/2024
» There really is no such thing as a free lunch, even for an emerging market as successful as Indonesia. The incoming president, a former general, has talked boldly about turbo-charging growth and sounded dismissive about long-standing spending rules. If only he could just order investors around like a regiment.
2% inflation targets wiggle room
News, Published on 11/06/2024
» This week's milestone G7 interest rate cuts dispel any notion that hitting 2% inflation targets spot on is a precondition for central bank moves or indeed sensible -- and may guide thinking on the Federal Reserve and Bank of England too.
Thailand wants faster inflation
News, Daniel Moss, Published on 06/06/2024
» It's hard to find a leader anywhere these days who will argue the case for faster inflation. Politicians would rather drink hemlock than call for a renewed acceleration; they are often too busy nodding sympathetically at what their opponents call a cost-of-living crisis. But there is a kingdom where calling for more elevated prices, sooner, isn't off limits. In fact, the government embraces the concept.
Why the US can't win trade war with China
Oped, Published on 22/05/2024
» Allegations about China's manufacturing overcapacity have sparked heated discussions among policymakers. During her visit to China in April, US Treasury Secretary Janet L Yellen reportedly argued that "when the global market is flooded by artificially cheap Chinese products, the viability of American and other foreign firms is put into question", adding that it was the same story a decade ago.
Global freight to 'lift fuel prices'
News, Published on 02/04/2024
» Global trade flows, which showed signs of acceleration at the start of 2024, indicate a recovery from the late 2022 slump in major industrial economies, likely boosting demand for transport fuels such as diesel.
It'll take more than patriotism to save the ringgit
News, Daniel Moss, Published on 28/03/2024
» Malaysia wants to be great again, at least in foreign exchange. The nation's currency recently approached a level seen as near-catastrophic during the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. Authorities insist the ringgit is way too cheap and blame forces outside the country, chiefly high interest rates in the US. The remedies are modest, compared with the shock therapy meted out a couple of decades ago.
Diesel prices primed to increase sharply in 2024
News, Published on 08/02/2024
» Global stocks of diesel and other middle distillates are below normal and prices could start to rise quickly if the industrial economies of North America and Western Europe emerge from their lingering recession in 2024.