For those interested in that sort of thing, 20th August 2015 has been a fascinating day in the markets. Oil has plunged, Kazakhstan and Vietnam have both floated their currencies, the Kazakh currency has fallen by 20% in a single day, and what are politely referred to as the currencies of the “emerging market economies” – which include the rouble – have all fallen in unison. In Russia the rouble has tracked the fall in the price of oil, with Economics Minister Ulyukaev saying that because oil is likely to continue its fall, the rouble is likely to fall further.
Category: EU
The paradox in the question of who wins in a currency war presupposes that any participating combatant can actually claim victory. If winning means ending up with the most cash, when the value of the…
The world is awash with “promises”. Nearly everything we think of as having “value” is because of a promise behind it. A few examples; your bank accounts, retirement funds, bonds and even the dollar bills…
During their election campaign, the Syriza movement promised the people of Greece an end to the inhumane politics of austerity and the dictatorship of the Troika. After being elected in January, Prime Minister Tsipras and…
Few people could probably have predicted that the Greek debt crisis that has been building in intensity since early 2015 would finally have taken such a vicious turn as it has since the end of June. It seems clear that this was the result of a continuing impasse in negotiations between the leftist Syriza government elected in Athens in January on a strong anti-austerity platform and the “troika” of creditors (comprising the European Commission (representing the 19 Eurozone members, ECB and IMF) determined to continue imposing harsh measures of economic “reform”.
To Russia & China: Are you? “The ‘Silk Road’ plan is expected to change the world political and economic landscape through development of countries along the routes, most of which are eager for fresh growth,” Xinhua wrote. Beijing hopes that annual trade volume between China and “Belt and Road” countries will “surpass 2.5 trillion U.S. dollars in a decade or so,” – Chinese President Xi Jinping Today Greece is a tiny microcosm of much of Southern and Eastern Europe. All have too much government debt owed to distant mega banks, massive underemployment, weak energy starved economies and rule by distant, unelected, EU bureaucrats. These problems are combined with minimal prospects for new sources of government funding and private investment.
A casino culture of anything goes persists. When counter-parties don’t have funds to pay on demand, bubbles begin deflating. It’s just a matter of time before current market mania ends. When investing becomes gambling, bad…
Let’s start with the geopolitical Big Bang you know nothing about, the one that occurred just two weeks ago. Here are its results: from now on, any possible future attack on Iran threatened by the Pentagon (in conjunction with NATO) would essentially be an assault on the planning of an interlocking set of organizations — the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization), the EEU (Eurasian Economic Union), the AIIB (the new Chinese-founded Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank), and the NDB (the BRICS’ New Development Bank) — whose acronyms you’re unlikely to recognize either. Still, they represent an emerging new order in Eurasia.
Its Shanghai-based New Development Bank (NDB) represents the beginning of a significant challenge to predatory Western financial institutions – the IMF, World Bank and other loan shark lenders of last resort. The IMF was established to stabilize exchange rates linked to the dollar and bridge temporary payment imbalances. The World Bank’s mandate was to provide credit to war-torn developing countries. Both bodies proved hugely exploitive – using debt entrapment to transfer public wealth to Western bankers and other major creditors.
Seventy-five years ago, when Europe succumbed to Nazi Germany it was the sound of trundling panzer tanks rolling into capitals that heralded defeat. Now it is German “panzer banks” that appear conquering all in front of them….