Entries for the ‘General’ Category
Thu Sep 2, 2010 18:29 BST |
As I write this, Japan is once again in a funk. The yen has come ever so close to its post-WW2 high of JPY79.70/US$ seen in 1995, the Nikkei has touched 16-month lows, and now, the governing Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) has become embroiled in an internal power struggle between Prime Minister Naoto Kan [Read more...]
Tags: Debt, DPJ, economic policy, Ichiro Ozawa, Japan, Leadership race, Naoto Kan, Nikkei, yen
Posted in: Asia, Equities, Financials, General, Political Risk
Wed Sep 1, 2010 16:18 BST |
US President Barack Obama’s formal declaration of the end of US combat operations in Iraq on August 31 is a good a moment as any to reflect on the war, the United States’ global position, and Obama himself.
Iraq War: Have The Goals Been Achieved?
First, let me address the Iraq War itself. There were several publicly [Read more...]
Tags: Afghanistan, Bush, Iran, Iraq War, mid-term elections, military, Obama, objectives, oil reserves, Superpower
Posted in: General, Geopolitics, Middle East, Political Risk, US, oil and gas
Tue Aug 31, 2010 16:21 BST |
Notwithstanding the appreciation of crude oil prices during 2010, the frenzy of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the oilfield services sector continues. The bearish price environment of 2009 supported M&A activity on the back of attractive valuations and a desire to whittle down competition. During H1 2010, we saw a significant rise in such M&A [Read more...]
Tags: M&A, Oil services, services, technologies
Posted in: Commodities, FDI, General, oil and gas
Thu Aug 26, 2010 19:09 BST |
Looking at recent economic data and leading indicators, such as the Ifo Business Climate Index, I get the impression that the economic recovery of Europe’s largest economy knows no bounds. Indeed, after posting its fastest economic growth rate since re-unification (at 2.2%), my colleagues at Business Monitor International have upgraded their real GDP growth forecast [Read more...]
Tags: Bonds, bunds, dollar, Downgrade, EU, euro, Eurozone, exports, France, GDP, Germany, Hartz IV, Ifo, ireland, Manufacturing, part-time work, periphery, recovery, treasuries, Yield
Posted in: Eurozone, General
Wed Aug 25, 2010 14:25 BST |
On this week’s Business Monitor Podcast we assess the outlook for global treasury markets. 2010 has thus far been a gangbusters year for treasuries and the implications for interest rate and inflation expectations has heavily reinforced our core macroeconomic outlook for a major downturn in global demand growth. Key questions addressed in the podcast include: [Read more...]

Global Treasury Markets: How Low Can Yields Go? [19:14m]
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Tags: 2s10s, Bonds, bund, Colombia, Equities, euro, Fixed Income, flattener, Germany, ireland, Mbono, mexico, treasuries, United States, yield curve
Posted in: Asia, Currencies, Emerging Europe, Equities, Eurozone, Financials, General, Latin America, Podcast, UK, US
Tue Aug 24, 2010 18:01 BST |
For some years now, social scientists and some economic historians have spoken about how cities are displacing nation-states as the most important actors on the world stage. The latest edition of Foreign Policy magazine carries an article along these lines, with the tag ‘The age of nations is over. The new urban age has begun’. [Read more...]
Tags: city state, mega region, Parag Khanna, Robert D Kaplan, Torbuffchester, urbanisation
Posted in: Africa, Asia, China, Emerging Europe, General, Geopolitics, Latin America, Middle East, Political Risk, US
Mon Aug 23, 2010 16:20 BST |
Infrastructure has shown resilience in the face of the economic downturn, and investment in the sector was used to boost aggregate demand during the global recession of 2009. However, governments around the world are now moving from stimulus to austerity. As the dust settles on the new initiatives used to attract private (rather than public) [Read more...]
Tags: competitive landscape, growth potential, infrastructure, market access, Markets, Opportunities, PPPs
Posted in: Asia, Emerging Europe, FDI, General, Latin America, Middle East, US, infrastructure