international

Only in Germany and Turkey did tax revenue rise as a percent of GDP last year amongst the twelve countries in the Economist's graphic below. This is testimony to how deep the global downturn was. While it is unclear whether this graphic…

Whether or not we are witnessing the end of the debate in Europe or simply another milestone on the way to The United States of Europe is a question for a dissertation, not a blog. In the meantime, these questions lead us to consider the…

I will be on BNN today at 12 Noon ET talking about the G20 amongst other topics, so I wanted to highlight this issue. Here's the text first (with added bolding) and then a few comments: First, G20 countries should commit to undertake…

We have heard this de-coupling theme for quite a few years now. The theory is that high-growth emerging markets are becoming less reliant on the U.S. and therefore are immune to exogenous shocks from the U.S. The video from Russia Today TV…

The Duke University/CFO Magazine Global Business Outlook Survey which concluded last week showed a high level of concern amongst top financial officers in major organizations worldwide. Of note are the CFOs ideas regarding employment and…

Now that I am back in the saddle, I am going to start doing my week in review narratives again with links to the most newsworthy posts from the past week or so. On second thought, let me actually cover the ground back to the beginning of…

by John Lounsbury The BIS (Bank for International Settlements) reported Sunday that it has reached an agreement to increase key capital ratios for banks. The announcement was made by the Group of Governors and Heads of Supervision, the…

How strong is the global recovery? The recovery seems slowest in Greece and the bubble countries (US, UK, Ireland, Spain). It’s pretty poor in Eastern Europe too. It is better in the rest of Western Europe. A good deal better in Australia…

Source: Casey Research

This is just in from PIMCO's Paul McCulley, who seems to have caught on to the Wynne Godley sectoral balances approach to viewing the macro economy (hat tip Scott).  He says: Double-entry bookkeeping was a great invention. It is a…