credit

Rather than adding stimulus with the aim of goosing demand to help the economy reach escape velocity, I would say that the central objective of economic policy is to help the economy reach full employment. Doing so will increase demand,…

If the US wants job growth, it will need to reduce private sector debt levels - and that takes time. The government can act a a counterweight to the demand drag but I am very sceptical of claims like Summers’ that doing so would solve a…

Raghuram Rajan, one of the few mainstream economists to warn of the US housing bubble, has recently written a piece which is highly critical of US monetary policy. His view, one that I share, is that US policy favours debtors over savers in…

Niels Jensen clears up a number of common misconceptions about the macroo environment which whave great importance for investing.

What is driving the increase in the RMB-denominated trade is probably not any preference to transact in RMB but rather speculative demand for RMB. That sounds pretty plausible.

Legislation to modify debit-card interchange fees cannot compete with celebrity gossip. It is not surprising that lobbying efforts have changed the minds of 19 senators who formerly aligned themselves with consumers and small banks (to…

The Federal Reserve will be on easy street for a long time to come. Real interest rates will remain low, meaning debtors will be favoured over savers. Investors in fixed–income will take it on the chin.

Listen to what Jeffrey Gundlach has to say about subprime bonds -- yes subprime. Hint: he thinks banks will have to take more credit writedowns.

Australian Professor Steve Keen explains why private sector debt dynamics drove both the Great Depression and the Great Recession.

An unsustainable rise in debt is, for me, one of the key indicators that the investment-driven model has passed its useful life and is generating negative growth while posting positive growth numbers. This is why I spend so much time trying…