currencies

“Taxes drive money”—these “money things” are accepted because there are taxes “backing them up”, not because they have embodied gold. As promised, this week I will begin try to dispel the view that coins used to be commodity monies.

Market sentiment improves ahead of this week’s Jackson Hole speech; Stocks and oil higher. Market focus this week on Jackson Hole; Policy announcement likely to disappointment. Singapore and South African CPI and central bank meetings in…

This has been an extremely tumultuous week throughout the capital and commodity markets. August itself has been a cruel month. The German stock market has lost around a quarter of its value. A marked slow down in the US and Europe in Q2 has…

There appear to be no happy outcomes here (although as my friend, Tom Ferguson always reminds me, “If you want to have a happy ending, go see a Disney film”). We appear to be entering most dangerous time for Europe since World War II.

The yen is a safe haven. That assertion seems so obvious, that why it is the case is rarely explored. It does not seem to be a function, as some suggest, of its trade surplus, but rather its position as a net international investment…

The dollar continues to remain firm against most of the majors; global stocks down sharp. Risk appetite took another turn for the worse; dollar bloc and scandis remain most sensitive. Outside the carnage in EM equities, funding strains are…

The dollar is firmer against nearly all the majors amid risk aversion; European stocks at a 6-day low. Markets are likely to focus on the US data in today’s session; downside surprise supportive of USD. PBOC expects to see less upward…

I appreciate the role that Krugman plays. Like many of you, I enjoy reading his blogs and more often than not, I agree with him. He is almost the lone, sane, voice in a position of authority who argues against the standard deficit…

The US dollar fell to 4-year lows against the Canadian dollar late last month near CAD0.94. In the tumultuous markets in the first half of August, the US dollar rallied about 6.5% into August 9th to briefly poke through CAD1.0 for the first…

Once again we are hearing very worried noises from various sectors about the possibility of a reduction in Chinese purchases of USG bonds. Is the PBoC going to stop buying USG bonds?