Weekly Selections from Monthly Barometer
5 insightful op-eds or articles to help make sense of today’s world Dani Rodrik, “A Class of Its Own” (Project Syndicate, July 10, 2014) The Princeton professor argues that: “the markets cannot produce prosperity for long unless they are backed by healthy societies...
Plumbers Wanted: Financial Clogs and Market Engineering
Over the course of the last several months a sense of market stability has prevailed. This can be seen in the low yields of government securities around the globe, signifying that for even risky countries the country-related risk is declining, and prospects constantly...
Weekly Market Update
Market Action Equities markets around the globe suffered considerable losses throughout the week. European markets highlighted a poor week as multiple nations reported weak industrial activity, lending continues to contract and Portugese banking worries pushed...
Weekly Selections from Monthly Barometer
5 insightful op-eds or articles to help make sense of today’s world Daniel Altman, “Get Ready for the Perma-Slump” (Foreign Policy, June 27, 2014) One of today’s key questions for economists is whether slower growth reflects a structural shift or simply a long...
The Devolutionary Disease of Conceit: Two Hundred and Thirty Eight Years Later
According to the latest employment data the average pace of job gains in the US has accelerated and now stands at the highest level in the last few years, as can been seen below. I would call the reader’s attention to the black line which reflects the six month...
Weekly Selections from Monthly Barometer
5 insightful op-eds or articles to help make sense of today’s world Heather Timmons, “China’s growing food demands stoke fears of a global factory farming boom” (Quartz, June 25, 2014) It is estimated that by 2030, China will import almost one-third of all food...
A Review of the Most Important Global Events in June by Monthly Barometer
The fate of the Eurozone lies to a considerable degree in the hands of the European Central Bank (ECB). But can it do enough? Earlier this month, the ECB announced a set of measures to prevent deflation, ranging from negative deposit rates to a package of cheap loans...
Wholesale Funding, Rehypothecation, Precious Metals and Pricing: Are We Counting the Cost?
In a recent article Bloomberg reported the following pertaining to the gold market in China: “China’s chief auditor discovered 94.4 billion yuan ($15.2 billion) of loans backed by falsified gold transactions, adding to signs of possible fraud in commodities financing...
Weekly Market Update
Data out of the US was mild at best this week. Regardless the Dow and S&P 500 posted small losses while the Nasdaq gained. Q1 GDP was revised down to -2.9%, a wide miss from the expected -2% and the original -1% posted. Mortgage data, durable goods orders and...
Weekly Selections from Monthly Barometer
5 insightful op-eds or articles to help make sense of today’s world Yao Yang, “China’s Real-Estate Wrongs” (Project Syndicate, June 20, 2014) Chinese property prices are one of today’s most prominent global risks, a caveat which The Monthly Barometer has been voicing...
