by John E. Charalambakis | Jun 7, 2012 | Commentaries
Fifteen years ago the global markets were getting ready to “welcome” the Asian financial crisis. The cause of that crisis? Declining multifactor productivity from Thailand and Taiwan, to Indonesia and S. Korea. The symptoms of that crisis? Trade deficits, overvalued...
by John E. Charalambakis | May 24, 2012 | Commentaries
I love dogmas (our first D). I know that in politically correct terms, dogma is an antiquated term that should die. However, dogmas are like the oxygen. You may not be able to see the oxygen with the naked eye however you cannot live without it. There are some...
by John E. Charalambakis | May 14, 2012 | Commentaries
Last Thursday evening, JP Morgan Chase admitted to losses of at least $2 billion on a $100 billion derivatives bet, baptized as hedging. As time goes by, the actual losses may increase. For review purposes, it is helpful to revisit the worldwide $700 trillion monster...
by John E. Charalambakis | May 8, 2012 | Commentaries
The results of the elections held in Greece last Sunday may well have sent a powerful signal to politicians and policy makers worldwide, that has yet to be discussed by the press. That message simply says: “We are no longer your useful idiots”. It seems that for many...
by John E. Charalambakis | Apr 25, 2012 | Commentaries
From last weekend’s IMF meetings we learned that its “firepower” had increased substantially by over $400 billion to be used as needed in light of the deteriorating situation in Europe. That seems a bit contradictory given that it was the IMF that warned earlier last...
by John E. Charalambakis | Apr 18, 2012 | Commentaries
The figure below shows the six forces which we believe are at work in determining the trajectory of the Euro in the foreseeable future. The analysis below discusses the six forces that are affecting the Euro’s future and hence the Euro zone’s potential. We present the...