Why quantitative easing is not waiting to release the inflation genie
22 Oct 2010 [0 Comments | 652 views]
Yesterday we wrote: “Fears over hyperinflation, leading to surging gold, are built on a myth.” See: Gold glistens for now, but does its sparkle deceive?. A comment suggested that while all this new money created by quantitative easing is not boosting the money supply at the moment, it is still lurking in the system, and [...]
Gold glistens for now, but does its sparkle deceive?
21 Oct 2010 [4 Comments | 605 views]
Which way next for gold? We thought it was time to sum up some of the arguments made here over the past few months. The reason why gold has done well over the last couple of years surely relates to uncertainties over the currency markets and the beginning of the end of dollar hegemony. As [...]
Fractals, chaos and the legacy of Mandelbrot
19 Oct 2010 [1 Comment | 924 views]
Last week, Benoit B Mandelbrot died. Never heard of him? Well, let’s face it, not many people have. But his theories were important, very important indeed. Perhaps he was far more deserving of a Nobel prize than all those economists who so spectacularly failed to call the economic crisis. So what was his big idea, [...]
Fed prepares to unleash WMDs in currency war
13 Oct 2010 [0 Comments | 533 views]
If we really are on the verge of a currency war, who is the likely victor going to be? The answer, probably Uncle Sam, although he will come out the other end a chastened beast. In fact, it may be more accurate to say Uncle Sam will win the battle, but that it will be [...]
And the winner is, the new Nobel prize for economics is handed out to but does it mean anything?
12 Oct 2010 [0 Comments | 641 views]
It’s that time of the year. October is the month when the Nobel prize is handed out to economists. And today saw the announcement of the latest winner, or winners to be more precise. Meanwhile, the critics line up. Listen to what some are saying, and you could be forgiven for concluding that the certificates [...]
Print money, or it’s the end of democracy, says Bank of England man; stop printing money, or it’s trade war, says Brazil
29 Sep 2010 [1 Comment | 995 views]
It is hard to envisage two more diverse views. Adam Posen, member of the Bank of England MPC has said that unless the Bank of England prints more money, the UK will be torn apart by political instability. Meanwhile, Brazil’s finance minister has warned of an impending currency war, and he blames the policy of [...]
Spend, spend, spend, demands Bank of England deputy governor
28 Sep 2010 [4 Comments | 802 views]
As you know, we have all got to save more. Pay off debt, and start preparing for our retirement. Errr, this is odd. Yesterday, in an interview on Channel 4 News, Charlie Bean, the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, called for consumers to go out and spend, and if necessary eat into savings. [...]
The great overreaction
13 Sep 2010 [0 Comments | 371 views]
We all know that mistakes were made during the boom, and government, regulators and wise-in-hindsight commentators are full of ideas as to how we can avoid such stupidity again. The snag is, what now seem to have been stupid moves, seemed like good ideas at the time. Time was when it seemed patently obvious that [...]
Toyota really was a victim of US bullying Is this true of BP, too?
12 Aug 2010 [0 Comments | 794 views]
Nothing can be more dangerous than a mob with a cause. If crowds can go mad, then mobs can be downright vicious. And if that mob exudes power, such as the mob of senators who make up US Congress, then anyone caught in their wake is left with no option but to pray, and to [...]
We have not gone soft on inflation says King
11 Aug 2010 [5 Comments | 2,237 views]
We have not “gone soft on inflation,” said Mervyn King this morning as he unveiled the latest Bank of England inflation report. He sounded a tad like Queen Gertrude in Shakespeare’s Hamlet when she said: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” The fact is, over the last 51 months inflation has been over target [...]
