2013

It was interesting to see the US markets follow through yesterday to the upside after a monster rally in shares when the Fed tapered large scale asset purchases on Wednesday. But rather than seeing strength in this, I see vulnerability…

News links for 20 Dec 2013

In order to understand much of what is happening in China it is important to understand how financial systems operate under condition of financial repression. Because most of what we know about economics is derived from economists whose…

Yesterday, the FOMC decided to reduce the pace of its large scale asset purchase program from $85 billion per month to $75 billion per month. The Fed has long wanted to taper its LSAP program and move to forward guidance to normalize policy…

News links for 19 Dec 2013

The big policy and market issue today is Federal Reserve policy. There is widespread interest in today’s FOMC meeting because of the possibility that the Fed could taper the pace of its large scale asset purchase program. But why is there…

Yen weakness has not generated the expected benefits and import demand has grown considerably

News links for 18 Dec 2013

This column argues that the legacy of public debt resulting from the crisis in the Eurozone is a serious threat. Both the size of the problem and the options to address it make life much more difficult for policymakers than was the case in…

Credit underwriters pride themselves in their ability to cut lending when they sense that economic fundamentals have changed for the worse. For example one often hears bankers talking about passing on deals in 2007 because of "not liking…