It was THIS big
byA theme which frequently pops up in current financial and economic commentary is that of the burgeoning levels of outstanding debt under which all…
Economics
Bull market breather or beginning of the end?
byStock markets have finally taken a breather over the last fortnight, although the S&P 500 has made a new, marginal, high this week. Cause…
Are Markets Really as Calm as they Seem?
byIndicators for financial market “stress” have reached their lowest levels in decades. For instance, stock market volatility has never been this low since the…
Deflation must be embraced
byThere are two problems with understanding deflation: it is ill defined, and it has a bad name. This article puts deflation into its proper…
Will macro-economists ever learn?
byAs we lurch through successive credit crises, central bankers and economists believe they learn valuable lessons every time, and that the ultimate prize, the…
Capitalism and Competition
byMarket competition is at the heart of the capitalist system. It serves as the driving force for creative innovation, the mechanism by which market…
Benn Steil: The Fed could be tightening more than it realizes
byTen years ago, before the collapse of Lehman Brothers rocked global financial markets, the Fed’s balance sheet stood at $925 billion—mostly U.S. Treasuries. After…
Is there a place for behavioural economics in the field of economics?
byRecently, a relatively new economics called Behavioural Economics (BE) has started to gain popularity. Its practitioners such as Daniel Kahneman, Vernon Smith and Richard…
Cryptos may destabilise fiat
byThe assumption in some quarters is that crypto-currencies will replace gold as money, or at least challenge it. This is an error borne out…
Is There Any Way Out of the ECB’s Trap?
byBy Daniel Lacalle The ECB faces the Devil’s Alternative that Frederick Forsyth mentioned in one of his books. All options are potentially riskly. Mario Draghi knows that…