Japan

Seventy years ago next month, Winston Churchill described Soviet foreign policy as a “riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”. That now may be apropos of the Japanese yen. Japan is a country that appears to be literally in decline.…

by Edward Hugh The modern world moves at a breathtaking pace, even when most of us find ourselves on holiday. No sooner do we receive, read and start to digest one set of economic data than we find ourselves pushed to think about what the…

The BBH CurrencyView Highlights The Swiss franc rose to a record against the euro while the yen also continued to edge higher through the Asian session as some improved Japanese figures failed to dent the risk-off momentum. EUR/CHF…

From The BBH Currency Strategy Team. Highlights Though concerns about economic growth prospects in major economies are still dominating financial markets after the poor US data yesterday, verbal intervention from Japan’s Finance…

By Claus Vistesen. I know this is a cheap shot, but still. Team Macro Man picks up an all time favorite over at MM and asks 20 questions (check this out for other answers) to which I have offered 20 answers., Will the 10yr Treasury…

There has been a lot of excited press commentary recently about China’s overtaking Japan as the world’s second largest economy.  China’s GDP should be larger than Japan’s for the first time sometime this year, which in a similar…

From Comstock Partners In a scholarly paper that was released today James Bullard, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, stated, "The U.S. is closer to a Japanese-style outcome than at any time in recent…

This is the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis piece by James Bullard that everyone is talking about. Here's the money quote: Under current policy in the U.S., the reaction to a negative shock is perceived to be a promise to stay low…

Highlights The US dollar is broadly lower against the major foreign currencies.   The combination of Fed’s recognition of downside risks to the US economy and inflation coupled with relatively smooth bond auctions from Spain and…

There are several noteworthy developments from China.   The first, while still a bit sketchy, seems the most promising.  President Hu seemed to signal an acceleration of infrastructure construction in the western part of…