Economics

OPEC has been the most talked about international organization among investors, analysts and international political lobbies in the last few months.  OPEC has been the most talked about international organization among investors, analysts and international political lobbies in the last...

Weak fundamental data and rising savings and investment rates in the U.S. and China indicate recent trends towards economic improvement might be reversing. American consumers are spending less and saving more.  Some interpret this as an indicator that aggregate demand...

The market shrugged off Last week's soft US employment data as a one-off disappointment.  The JOLTS report and new cyclical lows in weekly initial jobless claims provide evidence of the continued improvement in the labor market.  The ECB's bond purchases...

The US dollar is broadly higher on follow through buying after recovering in North America yesterday, helped in part by the FOMC minutes.  The minutes suggested a greater risk of a June or even a September hike than many investors...

China’s growing economic clout is complicating US efforts to maintain its grip on the world’s leading multilateral economic institutions – as it has done since the end of World War II. The creation of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB),...

The ECB is a month into what it has signaled will be at least an eighteen-month asset purchase program.  It had begun buying asset-backed securities and covered bonds earlier, but starting last month began buying sovereign and supranational bonds.  As...

Those who seek reconciliation with Japan’s neighbours and those who would rather paint a picture of a glorious wartime past still tears at Japan. These differences in attitude are never more apparent than between the increasingly nationalistic Liberal Democratic Party...

Over the last several decades, recycling has grown into an extremely prominent industry, not just in the United States, but also around the world. However, economics realities impact "feel good" green industries just as much as the worst polluting companies....

On 21 January 2015, the Japanese government received a threat from the Islamic State (IS) that it would behead two Japanese hostages unless Japan paid a US$200 million ransom. The message from IS pointed to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s...

Much has been made of the widening gap between the richest and poorest in America. But, a recent study shows a difference in the ways that the classes make and spend their money and helps explain why issues like inflation...

For decades, and especially since 11 September 2001, many academics, policymakers and activists have struggled against what they consider unacceptable attacks on Muslims and Islam itself. Over a decade before President Obama used the same words, President Bush said of...

The disappointing US employment data reinforces our expectation that after a strong advance in Q1 the US dollar will correct lower in Q2.  The euro's performance is also broadly consistent with the US experience in which the dollar sold off...

An effort to weaken organized labor is sweeping the Midwest, a region with a rich history of union activism. The strategy takes advantage of a curious provision of US labor law, section 14 (b). It allows states to pass laws...

Much has been made of the 100-plus business figures that came out in support of the Conservative Party. A letter published on the front page of The Daily Telegraph and the huge amount of debate it has provoked, has implicitly...

Accusations against Cambodia made following the controversial 2012 ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Phnom Penh fail to acknowledge the challenges that each member state faces with the rise of China. Accusations against Cambodia made following the controversial 2012 ASEAN Foreign...