In Business Monitor Online today, my colleagues note that the Emerging Asia growth boom is beginning to show signs of succumbing to the stresses of high oil prices, higher interest rates, stronger currencies, and the supply chain disruptions brought about by the Japanese earthquake. While growth remains positive on the whole, the pace of expansion… [Read more]
Readers of Risk Watchdog will know of my long-held bearish outlook on Russia and I thought I’d take the opportunity to reassert my position seeing as Business Monitor International just revised down its 2009 Russian economic growth forecast to -4.0% (yes, that’s a minus sign). Without going into a 1,500 word expose on all things… [Read more]
A thought. By now, the US Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing strategy is well underway, with the central bank pushing as much cash as possible into the hands of private commercial banks, hoping that they will then take the money and distribute it throughout the economy in the form of loans. Check out excess reserve balances… [Read more]