Economics

Recently Bangladesh was side-tracked from an electoral democracy. Earlier this year, the ruling party Awami League formed government after a one-sided election. Bangladesh’s major opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), boycotted the election on the grounds that it was...

Low inflation and exposure to weakening global markets is causing concern in the Federal Reserve, while a fall into recession in Japan is causing greater anxiety throughout Asia. Low inflation and exposure to weakening global markets is causing concern in...

There is plenty of data out today and it is generally reinforcing our three main thematic points: divergence, weak commodities, especially energy, and the slowing of the Chinese economy.  This is helping the US dollar and global bonds, but weighing...

Job growth in the United States saw a steady growth during October, and the unemployment rate dropped to its lowest level in six years. Economists have suggested that these factors highlight the resilience of the American economy in the face...

The FOMC minutes were not very surprising. The FOMC is not in any hurry to raise interest rates before the middle of next year at the earliest.  The FOMC statement did not drop the "considerable period" phraseology to describe the...

The joint Chinese–American announcement of emissions targets brings the world a big step closer to meaningful post-2020 action on climate change. Barack Obama in his Brisbane speech made it clear where the two superpowers see things going: ‘If China and...

Southeast Asia is no stranger to epidemics and is a hotspot for emerging disease threats. There have been serious economic and health-sector impacts from zoonoses including Nipah virus infections, SARS and highly pathogenic avian influenza (commonly known as bird flu)....

Currently, the top one percent of all Americans holds about 40% of the complete wealth of the nation. Recent studies have indicated that the biggest income gap in history is having a huge impact on the economy of the United...

The main theme this week has been the heavy tone of both sterling and the yen.  The yen's weakness stems from the aggressive easing by the BOJ and the stepped up buying of foreign assets by Japanese investors.  The story...

A set of reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the last of which was released on November 2, 2014, sets the scene for governments to renew their efforts on the issue through ambitious commitments for a comprehensive...

The United States partially lifted its decades-old ban on weapons sales to Vietnam on 2 October 2014. This was one of the most significant steps in improving relations between the two former enemies since they normalised diplomatic ties nearly two...

A note sent to select clients of the investment bank juggernaut Goldman Sachs urged investors to buy stocks now, as more jobs and a resurgent U.S. economy could tip equities even higher in the next few years.In their note, Goldman...

Active interest by India’s new leadership has provided an adrenaline shot to the flagging discourse on South Asian regionalism. During interactions with South Asian leaders on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, Modi reiterated...

US jobs data was largely in line with expectations, and the key take away is the divergence between the US on one hand and Europe and Japan on the other. Non-farm payrolls rose 214k and the back two months were revised...

Contrary to the leaks, ECB President Draghi stuck to his intent that the ECB's balance sheet move back toward the 2012 levels.  He clearly confirmed that this was unanimous.  This was the first time, such a reference was made in...