Author: John E. Charalambakis

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: May 22, 2023 |

The Debt Limit Debacle, the Surrender of Reason, the Pre-Socratics, and Puccini’s Tosca: Canceling the Noise, Not by Bread Alone, Part XXIV

Could Puccini’s opera Tosca (based on Sardou’s dramatic play La Tosca) be the prolegomenon of the debt limit debacle? There are plenty of twists in both the play and the […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: May 4, 2023 |

Revisiting the Libation of Bearers: Aeschylus, the Serpent, and Hotel California (Canceling the Noise, Not by Bread Alone: Part XXIII)

Upon return from Troy, Agamemnon is killed by his wife Clytemnestra. Orestes and his sister, Electra, are resolute on killing their mother and her lover, both of whom are thirsty […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: April 18, 2023 |

Canceling the Noise, Not by Bread Alone: Part XXII

Are the financial tremors over? Based on the latest data published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (see graph below), it seems that we are returning to some […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: April 11, 2023 |

The Anatomy of Underpinning Upheavals: Part II, the Energy Transition

In the first part of this series, we emphasized China’s ambition to replace (if needed by force) the liberal balance of power with an illiberal autocracy (consequently, limiting the role of the […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: March 27, 2023 |

Canceling the Noise, Not by Bread Alone: Part XXI

What’s wrong with the banks? How did we reach the point where three banks failed within a few days, and a couple more are on life support? How did we […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: March 7, 2023 |

Canceling the Noise, Not by Bread Alone: Part XX

Since our last commentary in this series, several things have taken place. Let’s recall some of them: Jobs growth (based on January’s number) was much stronger than expected; inflationary pressures […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: March 1, 2023 |

The Anatomy of Underpinning Upheavals: Part I, China and the Balance of Power

Over the course of the next few weeks, we will be discussing the changes we are undergoing on a global scale as well as the forthcoming changes that are affecting […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: February 21, 2023 |

Market Plays in a Machiavellian Garden with Aristotelian Fences

When we read market headlines nowadays, the focus is on inflation and the direction of interest rates. The stickiness of prices, as demonstrated by the slowdown in the decline of […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: January 19, 2023 |

Canceling the Noise, Not by Bread Alone: Part XIX

Are the markets sending signals that run contrary to downbeat expectations? The latter includes IMF estimates for a global slowdown accompanied by recessions around the world, announced layoffs, lower earnings, accumulated […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: January 4, 2023 |

Lessons from 2022, and Initial Outlook for 2023: Canceling the Noise, Not by Bread Alone, Part XVIII

It is possible that last year marked a pivot in the markets’ trajectory that is being shaped by too much debt facilitated mainly by central banks, geopolitical risks, the deflating […]