It is generally thought that yesterday’s fall in US continuing unemployment claims was another ‘green shoot’ of economic recovery. Not so fast. As Mike Shedlock over at www.globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com points out, the devil was in the detail. ‘Fewer people are receiving jobless aid largely because more of them have exhausted their standard unemployment benefits, which typically… [Read more]
Mexico has made a bid to become part of the emerging market (EM) elite by stating that it too may decide to lend to the IMF, either through a direct loan or the purchase of IMF debt. The announcement on June 12 by central bank governor Guillermo Ortiz came shortly after EM heavyweights Russia and… [Read more]
Two summits, both held in Russia this week, signal the collective desire of BRIC countries to rebalance world economic and political power away from the United States in their favour. One of the summits was the inaugural meeting of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) group. The other was the ninth annual meeting of the… [Read more]
Bloody clashes between Iranian security forces and protestors contesting last Friday’s election results have seen the largest public gathering in Iran since the Islamic Revolution 30 years ago. Liz Martins from Business Monitor International discusses the implications of a possible recount of the vote.
Further to my musings on whether ‘decoupling’ is fact or fiction, I’d like to briefly point out two of the curiosities of the current global equity rally. The first curiosity is how out of touch the rally seems to be with the fundamentals. My overall view is that this rally is simply a correction in… [Read more]
Although there is no smoking gun at this stage, several indications have led many Iranians to suspect that last Friday’s presidential election was rigged. While I expect the post-election unrest to die down over the coming days and weeks, public perceptions of electoral fraud could undermine the regime’s legitimacy over the longer term. Indeed, the… [Read more]
There’s been some talk (again) lately that ‘decoupling’ is taking place – that is, emerging economies are growing or recovering despite the ongoing recession in the developed states. An article in today’s Financial Times shows what I mean. I am skeptical. Lest you forget, decoupling was all the rage in 2007, when the Western world… [Read more]
