Category: Business Columnists

Chaotic Week in Global Central Banking as Recession Forces Itself Into the Conversation

November 8, 2022
Business & MarketsBusiness ColumnistsCentral Bankingeconomic policieseconomyglobal economyinflationOpinionrecessionViewpointsWorld
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Commentary  It began in Australia when its central bank publicly and clearly stated its quandary. Consumer prices are rising too quickly there as elsewhere, yet more and more it appears as if those prices are leading the country, like the rest of the world, into dark recession. What to do as a central banker? The…

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Is the Federal Reserve Going Bankrupt?

November 8, 2022
Business & MarketsBusiness Columnistseconomic policieseconomyFederal Reserveinflationinterest ratesPolicies & ImpactsrecessionUSUS News
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Commentary  How can a bank with the power to create money out of thin air manage to lose money and become insolvent? The Federal Reserve can do it. Here is how. The Fed is losing money at an accelerating rate. Based on generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), the Fed soon could soon be considered insolvent….

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Investors Vote ‘No’ on China’s Xi

November 8, 2022
Business & MarketsBusiness Columnistsevergrandemarket responseOpinionThinking About Chinathird termXi Jinping
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Commentary Financial markets have shown disapproval of Xi Jinping’s success in securing a third term as China’s leader. Stocks, bonds, and China’s currency, the yuan, all fell with the close of the Party Congress and have more or less stayed down. The reaction is certainly understandable. For some time now, Xi has shown a penchant…

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The Not-So-Great Wall Street of China

November 8, 2022
Business & MarketsBusiness ColumnistsChinaHK BusinessHong KongOpinionThinking About ChinaViewpointsWall Street
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Commentary The moral truth about capitalism was argued eloquently by George Gilder in his 1981 opus “Wealth and Poverty.” “Not from greed, avarice, or even self-love can one expect the rewards of commerce, but from a spirit closely akin to altruism, a regard for the needs of others, a benevolent, outgoing, and courageous temper of…

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Investors Should Abandon Wishful Thinking on China

November 7, 2022
Business & MarketsBusiness ColumnistsChinaChina Business & EconomyinvestorsOpinionThinking About China
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Commentary Western investors have been very patient, and even persistent, in believing for decades that China will be the new frontier, the investing “holy grail,” even. After decades of investment and engagement with China, however, the country’s ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has not become more democratic. Now that the 20th Party Congress has come…

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Into a Global Debt Crisis

November 7, 2022
Business & MarketsBusiness ColumnistscrisisdebteconomyGDPinflationOpinionrecessionViewpoints
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Commentary  There have been three major sovereign debt crisis episodes during the past 200 years. The first one occurred after the Napoleonic wars between 1827 and 1860. The second one occurred during and after the Great Depression and World War II, and the third one during the era of commodity-price and banking crises from around…

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Essential and Nonessential Workers: Reshuffled!

November 4, 2022
AnalysisBusiness & MarketsBusiness ColumnistsElon Muskessential workersjobs reportnonessential workersOpinionTwitterU.S. economy
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Commentary It’s finally happening: Elon is bringing economic rationality to Twitter, the company he just took over under very high pressure to amp up cash flow in the midst of a stagflationary environment. It’s no easy task but it certainly begins with cost cutting. First on the chopping block: the labor pool itself. Half the…

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October Jobs Report Breaks Hopes of a Federal Reserve Pause

November 4, 2022
AnalysisBusiness & MarketsBusiness ColumnistseconomyFederal Reserveinflationinterest ratesjobsOpinionPolicies & ImpactsrecessionunemploymentUSUS News
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Commentary The October jobs report showed that the economy added 261,000 new jobs, considerably better than the consensus estimate of 200,000 jobs. This morning’s print is  54,000 fewer jobs than were created in September 2022 and 461,000 fewer jobs than were created in the COVID recovery period of 2021. Net revisions for August and September added another 29,000 net…

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The Fed Has Just Begun to Fight

November 3, 2022
AnalysisBusiness & MarketsBusiness ColumnistsFederal Reserveinflationinterest ratesOpinionPandemic ResponserecessionstagflationU.S. economy
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News Analysis There was widespread fear and loathing on Wall Street after the Fed’s announcement of further rate increases, 75 basis points again and the sixth increase this year. The Fed has not increased rates this far this fast in the entire postwar period. The pace is without precedent, and indicates that the Fed is…

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The Russia–Ukraine War: A Regional Disaster Threatens a Wider Catastrophe

November 3, 2022
American diplomacyAnalysisBusiness & MarketsBusiness ColumnistseconomyenergyEuropefaminefighting in UkraineinflationOpinionrecessionRussiaRussia-Ukraine WarUncategorizedWorld
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Commentary Russia miscalculated in expanding its war on Ukraine beyond the Russophile Eastern Ukraine and Crimea. The attack on Kyiv and western Ukraine unified NATO and impelled the United States to engage in a proxy war with Russia in Ukraine. In the months since, Ukraine—with American and allies’ arms and aid—has proven far more resilient…

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