currencies

History has a message for us: No fiat currency has lasted forever. Eventually, they all fail. Morgan Stanley reported in 2009 that there’s “no historical precedent” for an economy that exceeds a 250% debt-to-GDP ratio without experiencing…

If the Chinese are serious about their anti-US rhetoric, they will have to do a lot more on the currency front. First and foremost, they need to move more aggressively to a basket peg that allows bilateral Yuan currency rates to move as the…

Separately, both Nouriel Roubini and Stephen Roach, two leading American economists with differing views on the Chinese domestic economy have pointed out the concern China has with the dysfunctional US political system. Increasingly, the…

Dollar pares back recent losses against majors but remains defensive; stocks and commodities down. Even if default is averted odds remain high that US credit is downgraded by at least 1 of 3 agencies. South Korea’s GDP decelerates in Q2…

When the government issues a currency used as the money of account and accepts that currency in tax payment, it is not necessary to “back” the currency with precious metal or enforce legal tender laws. Taxes drive money.

No, but stocks and bonds are down. Global equity markets are down and safe havens like gold and the Swiss Franc are up. Stan Collender thinks the likelihood of a deal is less than many believe.

The Bank of Japan held a private briefing with a small group of analysts from leading financial institutions in their NY rep office. The Director-General of the Research and Statistics Department led the presentation. This column…

This post is a prelude to a BBC interview on the sovereign debt crisis. I am not going to answer financial Armageddon questions about "what oif it all goes pear-shaped" here because to understand where things are headed you need to know how…

Guilio Tremonti, the Italian Finance Minister, last week compared Germany and its small-minded Chancellor Angela Merkel to a first-class passenger on the Titanic. To repeat: this is not a problem confined to the periphery. The sovereign…

It is difficult for companies to cope with the competitive implications of the persistent strength of the Swiss franc. By the OECD calculations, the Swiss franc is the most over-valued currency in its universe near 45% over -valued against…