Rembrandt’s painting portraying the return of the prodigal son is an amazing and monumental piece of art. It signifies the most joyful moment of reuniting a family and starting a […]

We live in an epoch where volatility is becoming a trademark. We try to discover causes for this and all we are successful in doing is reshuffling symptoms. Like lemmings […]

In a recent study by the McKinsey Institute total credit market debt in China is shown as the largest in the world, and that is only what we know of. […]

Over the course of the last two weeks, we have been observing a twist in the bond markets. Yields are rising and consequently bond prices dropping. More than $420 billion […]

This past Monday we posted an article by Chairman Paul Volcker on the need for radical financial reform (see     http://stage.blacksummitfg.com/2978).  Chairman Volcker wrote “it is too clear that […]

In its recent World Economic Outlook, the IMF questioned the sustainability of the current growth trajectory around the globe. This should not have been a surprise given the levels of […]

Around the globe fundamentals are being ignored. Unsustainable debt keeps rising, the equity markets of dysfunctional economic unions seem to “thrive”, unprecedented monetary measures are implemented and a Leviathan state […]

Could the markets suddenly unravel? Of course they could. The fiat monetary system is like a mirage, it can tumble because of underestimated circumstances. Imagine for example Greece abruptly leaving […]

Since 1873 the world has suffered two periods of great deflationary pressures: the first one from 1873-1893, and the second during the Great Depression in the 1930s. We may be […]

Lorenzo the Magnificent (the scion of the Medici banking family), whose lending institution dominated not only Florence but much of Europe, was also a poet influenced by Horace and Catullus. […]