2011

I have been reading the press accounts on the William Daley appointment as President Obama's Chief of Staff. Bo Cutter is impressed and says "the new Obama Team will get things done" because "Bill Daley can build…

We know that the Chinese have turned to price controls to stop the rise in food price inflation. Everywhere in the emerging markets, where incomes are lower than in the developed world, the rise in commodity prices is putting huge strains…

from the BBH Currency Strategy Team There has been an obvious build up of expectations about the US jobs report today.  The dramatic jump in the ADP estimate sparked a large upward revision in expectations even though the…

Word is out all around Washington that the Obama Administration plans to cut US defense programs by $78 billion and 70,000 troops by 2015. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a holdover from the Bush Administration with credibility within the…

By Win Thin After warning of further measures to fight BRL appreciation, Brazil unveiled yet another policy measure in its toolbox. The central bank introduced reserve requirements on local bank dollar short positions this morning in an…

The US Department of Labor reported this morning that initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to a seasonally-adjusted 409,000 from an upwardly-revised 391,000. This puts the widely-followed four-week moving average for initial…

"Whatever political party holds the white house wants to get re-elected. So it's going to do whatever it can to make the economy look good on election day" -Mark Hulbert This is how I see things as well. The question, of…

Michael Hudson reviews the reasoning behind income tax policy in the 20th century, a good lesson in financial history. Interestingly, he says that data show tax cuts have been followed by slow growth in the US.

by Win Thin Bank Indonesia kept rates steady at 6.5%, as expected. However, we disagree with its dovish stance. Inflation pressures are rising, and tightening should have begun in 2010. Headline inflation was 7.0% y/y in December, the…

by Annaly Capital Management Yesterday the Census Bureau released manufacturers’ new orders, which is usually seen as a leading indicator for the US economy. According to a Bloomberg article titled Orders to U.S. Factories Increase in Sign…