currencies

By Jeffrey Somers and Michael Hudson A spectre is haunting Europe: the illusion that Latvia’s financial and fiscal austerity is a model for other countries to emulate. Bankers and the financial press are asking governments from Greece to…

On the back of 10+% growth in 2010, it is now apparent that China has a burgeoning inflation problem. A whole confluence of factors may come into play here. A labour shortage in China, food price inflation, and out of control money supply…

By Win Thin Brazil central bank hiked rates 50 bp late yesterday to 11.25%, as expected, though some chatter was heard about a possible 75 bp move. It said the move was the beginning of an adjustment process that along with “macro…

by Edward Harrison I was watching the Obama – Hu Press conference this afternoon and it was a veritable lovefest considering the acrimonious backdrop from 2010. You lot were thinking it was going to be like this Obama-Hu press conference…

by Marc Chandler Through the Middle East, Tunisia's recent experience is prompting policy responses. Officials seem concerned that the ease at which the Tunisia's government was toppled could embolden the disenchanted elsewhere. High…

In anticipation of the state visit by Chinese Leader Hu Jintao, I spoke about the pressure on US politicians to do something about the Chinese currency problem with RT America's Alyona Minkovski on the Alyona Show last night. The video is…

Marc, you have been very quiet. What are you worrying about? Faber: Have you got an hour? You are all wrong. You say you would do this or that if you were policymakers, but nobody says "I wouldn't do a thing. I would let the market…

By Win Thin It’s all about monetary tightening in EM today. PBOC hiked reserve requirements another 50 bp today, effective January 20, and has hiked a total here of 350 bp since starting in January 2010. This comes after the Christmas…

By Edward Hugh “If you know your Thucydides and the Melian dialogue you know that small countries rely most on everyone following the rules. That’s why we follow the rules. If there are no rules, then the big will do what they want,”…

By Marc Chandler and the BBH Currency Strategy Team Europe’s debt crisis remains among the most important factors in the global capital markets. By some market-based measures, like interest rate spreads and credit default swap prices, the…