Search Results for: International Monetary Fund
NIRP, its likelihood and effect on commodities
October 5th, 2015
In last week’s article I pointed out that negative interest rates should lead to a general shift in consumer preferences from money towards essential goods. Central bankers may wish for this outcome on a controlled basis to allow them ...
Asia Stocks Jump With Won After Weak U.S. Data; Glencore Surges
October 5th, 2015
Odds of 2015 liftoff pared as U.S. payrolls trail estimates Copper leads metals, commodities higher; China still closed Asian stocks jumped with emerging-market currencies and commodities after U.S.employment and factory reports came in well below estimates, undermining the case ...
The Global Economic Outlook
September 29th, 2015
Global markets have endured a tough summer, hit by a financial crisis that had its origins in China, but spread quickly to other parts of the world. Trillions of dollars have been wiped out in equity values and some ...
Ultra-low Interest Rates: Dangerous or Just a Price?
September 22nd, 2015
Two recent reports start by observing that long-term interest rates have been at extraordinarily rock-bottom levels for several years now. But from that common starting point, the analysis of the reports heads in different directions. The Council of Economic ...
Federal Reserve leaves key interest rate unchanged
September 18th, 2015
Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in July suggests that economic activity is expanding at a moderate pace. Household spending and business fixed investment have been increasing moderately, and the housing sector has improved further; however, ...
Oil prices dip as demand stalls – IEA releases Oil Market Report for September
September 14th, 2015
Oil prices dipped on Monday in Asia as weakening demand weighed on markets, although U.S. futures received some support from reduced American drilling. Front-month Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down 37 cents at $47.77 per barrel at 0448 GMT. U.S. crude ...
Japan Shares Jump Most in Four Years
September 9th, 2015
Possibility of more stimulus from Beijing boosts sentiment Stocks in Japan jumped the most in more than four years Wednesday, shaking off unease about slowing growth in China amid a tentative rebound in Chinese stocks. The region’s shares ...
The Current Global Financial Crisis
September 3rd, 2015
During the last month global markets has been roiled by the financial crisis that emanated from China, but propagated to other parts of the world. To put things into perspective, during the month of August more than $5 trillion ...
Europe: When the Macro Overshadows the Micro
August 17th, 2015
Christian Thimann currently works with the French investment bank AXA while also holding an academic position at the Paris School of Economics. However, from 2008 to 2013 he was Director General and Adviser to the President at the European ...
Welcome to the world of ZIRP zombies
August 14th, 2015
Interest rates in the US, Europe and the UK were reduced to close to zero in the wake of the Lehman crisis nearly seven years ago. Initially zero interest rate policy (ZIRP) was a temporary measure to counter the ...