Commentaries

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: October 24, 2013 |

On “Doom-Loops”, Insufficient Capital, Camels, and Utilitarianism: Market Suasion or Delusion?

In a interview on CNBC Mario Draghi (the head of the European Central Bank, ECB) told us yesterday that he is concerned about capital insufficiencies, balance sheet holes, and backstops […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: October 15, 2013 |

Dancing to the Sounds of an Acrimonious Manipulative Symphony: A Prelude in Out-Maneuvering the Devil?

In Shakespeare’s play titled “Othello” we discover an acrimonious manipulative protagonist in the person of Iago who envisions the downfall of Othello. Iago’s plans are not just convoluted. They are […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: October 8, 2013 |

The Here and Now: Market Myopia Meets Financial Presbyopia

It’s a pity that the market participants’ focus is on the childish political theater in Washington D.C. which is nothing but a symptom of a greater problem. Nations like families […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: October 1, 2013 |

Cadmus in Search Of Europa: Could the Greek Economy Recover like that of Latvia?

The headlines of this past weekend edition of the European edition of the Wall Street Journal read: “Debt Targets for Greece Questioned”. In the article Klaus Regling, the managing director […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: September 24, 2013 |

Crescit Eundo: Collateral and the Deterministic Path of a Logical Irrationality

It seems that the Latin phrase Crescit Eundo (it grows as it goes) fits well into the Fed’s modus operandi. In its latest attempt to justify the non-tapering, the Fed […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: September 18, 2013 |

On the Art of Central Banking: The Challenges Ahead

Our Federal Reserve Bank, the ECB, and other central banks of developed nations face a paradox:  the same institution that is supposed to hold the ultimate reserves of the commercial […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: September 8, 2013 |

On the Road to Damascus: Machiavellian Anatomy and Market Romanticism

One of my favorite songwriters (Rich Mullins) – who died prematurely sixteen years ago – wrote the song “On the road to Damascus”. Let’s recall some of those lyrics: On […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: August 31, 2013 |

World Island Meets World Currencies: Planting the Seeds of Turbulence

In 1904 Sir Halford Mackinder published his famous paper The Geographical Pivot of History. The paper served as the cornerstone for the study of geopolitics in the 20th century. Sir […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: August 24, 2013 |

Financial Repression: The Modern Equivalent of Currency Debasement

We live in an era of financial repression where savings are penalized due to low interest rates. The latter is the outcome of the financial crisis. This in turn was […]

By: John E. Charalambakis | On: August 18, 2013 |

A Temporary Lapse in Markets’ Trend: Truncation Bias and Shortsightedness

Understanding market trends is more than merely intellectual gymnastics on financial and economic themes. Every market era emphasizes different aspects of its inheritance depending on its own problems. Our challenge […]