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Tag Archives: G20

Bernanke’s lost opportunity

    Given that he was at the heart of monetary policy making before, during and after the biggest monetary disaster of all time, Ben Bernanke should be mightily pleased with the reviews he has been getting as he leaves office as Fed chairman. All but a disgruntled minority give him full marks for leading…
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How the international monetary system holds back recovery

  Ever since the end of Bretton Woods, exchange rate volatility driven by diverse monetary policies and diverse expectations about future exchange rates have been frequent sources of shocks to the world economy and national economies. The very existence of independent central banks with independent monetary policies is the common origin of shocks. The more…
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Is real reform within our grasp?

Not many central bankers or regulators are willing or able to think deeply about the nature of money and the implications of the collapse of trust in banking.  Two exceptions are Mervyn King and Peter Praet. This post is about them and other thinkers worth attending to.   King’s views are well known and he…
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My New Year wishes

  The world economic recovery remains fragile and could easily be derailed by renewed financial turmoil. My first wish is a terminological one – please, can we find a more useful word or phrase to describe what has happened? The word “crisis” and the phrases “financial crisis” , “great financial crisis”, “Global Financial Crisis” ,…
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Carney’s likely priorities

Understanding markets and power leads to one conclusion Those who are familiar with his thinking report that he will be keen to emphasise that responsibility for managing risks lies with the firms themselves. So he will be big on reforming governance of financial institutions. He will insist that bank boards live up to their duty…
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Why gold is back

    In investment terms, we face a scenario that says neither bonds nor equities are likely to rise.  The ‘uncertainty’ is greater than ever.  And it is ‘uncertainty’ that drives people into gold, not relative values in paper currencies.  We have to think that gold is the central thing around which everything else moves….
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What the G20 should do at Los Cabos

“The global recovery has stalled again as confidence in policy makers’ ability to provide conditions for growth has slipped away” writes Chris Giles of the Financial Times, in his report from Los Cabos on the opening day of the G20 meeting there. According to the latest FT/Brookings Institution Tiger Index, world economic growth is stalling…
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