Author: John E. Charalambakis

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: February 11, 2012 |

Abyssus Abyssum Invocat: On Liquidity Premiums and the Broadening of the Collateral Base

The calls heard last week from the southern periphery of the EU seem to be coming from the abyss. The Greek economy is in her fifth year of contraction, the […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: February 6, 2012 |

An Asymmetrical Diaspora of Credit and Capital: Market Upswing and Policies’ Lags

The argument of this commentary is as follows: The market experiences an upswing (which we anticipated and started commenting on December 21, 2011) due to two basic facts: First, the […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: January 30, 2012 |

An Exercise in Futility: Can we Add by Subtracting?

Today the EU leaders are gathering again for another summit! More than two years into their crisis, they cannot get their act together while continuing on the same path of […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: January 25, 2012 |

On Capital Flight and Balance Sheets: Capital Accounts in the Era of Black Holes

The news from the United Kingdom this week implied that more quantitative easing and money printing is coming to the U.K. economy soon. When we take into account that high […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: January 18, 2012 |

Before the Dawn of the Waste Land: Expected Returns, and Economic Performance

The macroeconomic picture – globally – does not look that promising. Trends need to be reversed in order to avoid the dawn of the waste land. However, for the near […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: January 11, 2012 |

The Hypothecation of the Merconti Hypothesis: Banks’ Deleveraging and Currencies Trajectories

Mer(kel) has lately been enjoying one of her highest favorable ratings in her political career in Germany. (Sar)ko(zy) is up in the polls but still behind his main opponent (Francois […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: December 28, 2011 |

The Markets in Altdorfer’s Metalanguage: Persephone at the Crossroads where Metacapitalism Meets Metamodernity

Recently I finished reading an excellent book by James Rickards entitled Currency Wars. Let me quote from the concluding chapter: “The dollar, for all its faults and weaknesses, is the […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: December 21, 2011 |

In the Garden of Credit: Signs of Life and the Prospects for 2012

Liquidity has dried up in Europe. Banks in the greater EU are unable to refinance their unsecured bonds that are approaching maturity. Moody’s cut the credit rating of French banks […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: December 12, 2011 |

The Incubation of a Crisis: Dum Spiro Spero in the Life of Swap Lines and Hybrid Accounting

In the last few days the markets tried to breathe a breath of new life and optimism in the midst of developments in the EU and the initiatives taken by […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: December 2, 2011 |

The Euro Zone Meets Gilgamesh and the Music Plays on: Rameau’s Hippolytus Act Two

Jean-Philippe Rameau’s compositions stand out as the epitome of Rococo style. His opera “Hippolyte Et Aricie” was the first work to which the term “Baroque” was applied. The opera is […]