Russia

By Claus Vistesen One of the reasons that I have always had a problem with Goldman Sachs' infamous notion of the BRIC economies was not the fact that it excluded other important economies such as e.g Chile or Indonesia, but rather that…

A sovereign nation that issues debt in its own fiat currency cannot default involuntarily. Again, this is the Ecuador risk factor, defaulting for purely political reasons, not because of the inability to pay. It is not clear whether there…

This morning's note from UBS' Andy Lees addresses something about which I am sceptical regarding the escalating Libyan conflict: global spare oil capacity. I am in the same camp with Jeremy Grantham. Call it peak resources, peak oil,…

By Win Thin Russia central bank First Deputy Chairman Ulyukayev confirmed that it has widened the so-called “floating corridor” for the ruble basket to 32.45-37.45 vs. 32.95-36.95.  The band is now 5 rubles wide, and continues a slow…

Russia is keen on developing stronger ties with both China and the EU in order to secure its global economic position. The recent agreement with China to begin Ruble-Renminbi trading in Russia is part of this effort. Last week, Marc…

by Marc Chandler Russia is the last of the major countries that has not joined the World Trade Organization. The importance of the WTO may not be so much in liberalizing trade as negotiations take years. The WTO predecessor was GATT, which…

In a time when there is much discussion of peak oil and the idea that other commodities are less abundant or more costly to access, one issue that might not get enough attention among investors is the shortage of water. Some political…

The under-current from Putin's remarks has much to do with anti-US Dollar sentiment because he said specifically that having the U.S. dollar as the sole reserve currency "is definitely something negative." Putin is serious about ditching…

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…

A news wire is reporting that Russia remains committed to diversifying its reserves and has not changed its view of the euro.  This is consistent with what several other central banks, including China, Japan and South Korea have…