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Recent stories in Financial
A question of safe assets : The paradox of unconventional monetary policy
We are now some 5 years into this crisis and we have witnessed some non-text book interventions in terms of substantial large amounts. Having a look at how balance sheets of central banks have exploded, it's really "de jamais vue", in some cases interventions in between 25% and 30% of GDP. It started out with the FED's Tarp ...
A long hot weekend dito summer
Yesterday we had triple whammy : 28 Spanish banks dramatically downgraded & Moodys threatening to cut the Spanish sovereign to junk ; then came the news that Monte dei Paschi will be bailed by the Italian government through means of so-called Tremonti bonds. And finally the presentation of Herman Van Rompuy's 7 page road map ...
1 is minder dan 2
Geen kat die deze stelling zal betwisten, maar de impact ervan op de Chinese economie wordt vermoedelijk zwaar onderschat. We hebben het uiteraard over de geboorte beperkende maatregel dat het grootste deel van het land al decennia lang slechts één kind mag hebben.China beheerst de wereldeconomie zoals wellicht nog nooit een land ...
Go East, young man...
The most acute problems are on Europe's periphery, where many smaller economies are experiencing crises strongly reminiscent of past crises in Latam America and Asia : Latvia is the new Argentina. Paul Krugman, NYT 15/12/08 (slightly wonkish) Yesterday, we picked ...
Guest post : The quest for a plain vanilla lexicon
At Econopolis, we always appreciate it when our faithful audience mingles into the debate of politics, economics, philosophy and the other small things making our lives beautiful. Today we bring you a contribution by Franck Vanhee. It might be poetic at first sight, the underlying thoughts will become crystal clear throughout the ...
Same game, different rules ?
T+3 Spanish bail-out, emergency rescue , credit-line and we are back to square 1 if Spanish yields are an indicator. Apparently markets are not convinced about the credibility of the fire wall currently put into place ; or are awaiting more clarity and reassurances, something the so-called master plan might ...
Postcard from China
Writing a piece like this after a trip to (a part of) a country is always somewhat difficult. The reason is that you have to be very careful not to extrapolate to the entire country what you have seen in the cities you have just visited. In this particular case, I will try to share with you some thoughts on my recent stay in ...
To peg or not to peg - Safe Haven
Flight to quality, safe haven, uncertainty and capital preservation, all these buzz words lately seem to be the only thing that matter. And it isn't restricted to the usual suspects in the current risk-off environment, being JPY and CHF (reversal of carry trades etc). But before focusing on a fairly new contestant in this game, a ...
Catharsis and the Fischer smile
Catharsis, the emotional purification in Greek drama or the logical conclusion at the end of a play. It seems to me we are nearing such a point in the euro-zone where conflicting parties - now in full collision course in a super game of chicken - will be blessed with catharsis one way or the other. What is at stake ?In previous ...
China, hold or sell?
Het financieel-economisch nieuws wordt nog steeds gedomineerd door 2 parameters: Griekenland (of in het verlengde daarvan de Europese financiële turbulentie) en de vertragende Chinese groei. Deze beide zaken hebben de laatste weken een groter impact op de beurzen dan ander bedrijfsnieuws, zeker nu de kwartaalgebonden ...















