By David Lipton, IMF Soon after the global financial crisis, with emerging market economies experiencing sizable inflows in the wake of quantitative easing, unconventional monetary policies, and widening growth differentials with advanced economies, the IMF embarked on a work program to help our member countries craft policy responses that would reap the benefits of financial … Continue reading
By Valentin Katasonov Despite the chilling nature of global debt and individual country debt figures cited in the report — Debt and (not much) deleveraging — published by the well-known consulting firm McKinsey in February 2015, for the most part these figures are incomplete and underestimated. The situation is in fact far worse. This is clearly illustrated by … Continue reading
This year we expect the divergence in monetary policy among the world’s central banks to be a key theme and a likely driver of asset flows. By Templeton Emerging Markets Group For now, the scorecard seems to be tilted toward monetary easing since in the first month of 2015 alone, 14 central banks engaged in some … Continue reading
By Sebastian Edwards Via VoxEU The conventional ‘trilemma’ view is that countries that allow free capital flows can still pursue independent monetary policies as long as they allow flexible exchange rates. This column examines the pass-through of Federal Reserve interest rates to policy rates in Chile, Colombia, and Mexico. The author concludes that, to the extent … Continue reading
By Peter Cai For years, Chinese officials and foreign analysts have been obsessed with China’s GDP growth figures. There has been a widespread belief that if GDP growth dips below 8 per cent, there would be massive upheaval. This widely held perception turned out to be nonsense. The career prospects of Chinese officials are dependent … Continue reading
By Rob Urie Since the onset of economic calamity in the West beginning around 2007 ‘official’ response has been framed as modest successes with a few policy errors while the reality is of remote elites and their agents enacting punitive policies under the guise of material economic constraints. In this context the election of Alexis … Continue reading
By Wayne Madsen As Greece celebrates the inauguration of its anti-austerity government, the euphoria should be tempered with a bit of realism. Although new Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who named his son Ernesto after Cuban revolutionary Ernesto Ché Guevara, and the vast majority of his new Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) government have good … Continue reading
By Joaquin Flores The sounds of champagne decorking and exuberant cheers among Syriza volunteers, supportive voters, and their struggling-but-comfortable socialist middle-class base within the intelligentsia and literati, could be heard across Athens’ cafes in the clean areas of town. Election results were finalized this evening in Greece, with a clear Syriza victory. But anyone expecting … Continue reading
By Mark Mobius Templeton Emerging Markets Group At Templeton Emerging Markets Group, we believe Asia’s combination of rapid economic growth, generally strong national finances and economic fundamentals has created an attractive landscape for equity investors. Seismic changes have been taking place in Asia’s political arena over the past couple of years, including major elections, leadership … Continue reading
By Mike Whitney Let’s say you’re diagnosed with colorectal cancer. But instead of going to a professional for help, you decide to treat yourself with glycerol suppositories and high doses of Vitamin C. Well, then, you’re probably going to die, right? This same rule applies to economics. If you try to reduce unemployment and boost growth by … Continue reading