It is perfectly understandable that major corporations and private financial institutions would rally behind new disclosure standards and other market-based measures to address climate change. It is an approach that allows the owners of capital yet another way to avoid a real reckoning.
China is quietly growing its home-grown payments system to allow cross-border transactions in yuan as trade and investment with the rest of the world grows and Beijing makes a bigger push to globalise the local currency.Cross-Border Interbank Payment System, run by CIPS and launched by the central bank in 2015 to settle international claims in yuan, will increase the number of direct taking part…
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC or Fed) signaled on September 22 that it will probably start to taper off its bond purchases soon because it believes the US economy is likely to continue to perform strongly despite the Delta wave of COVID-19 infections. Markets had expected the taper signal...
With too much of the financial industry still funding long-term investments in the fossil-fuel sector, it is clear that a more robust government intervention is needed. Here is what policymakers can do to move the dial in a meaningful way.
From OilPrice, September 18:Skyrocketing Energy Prices Could Cripple Europe’s EconomySurging energy prices in Europe are
hurting more than just consumers. The price spikes have started to hit
industrial activities, threatening to deal a blow to the post-COVID
recovery in European economies with a triple whammy of reduced consumer
purchasing power, lower industrial production, and higher
From optimizing electricity grids to predicting weather patterns, artificial intelligence and big data could play a major role in decarbonizing the global economy. But without new frameworks and rules of the road, digital technologies could end up doing more harm than good for the climate.
Although climate change is primarily caused by excess greenhouse-gas emissions, there are many links in the chain between economic activities and the real-world effects of planetary warming. Each of these can be addressed in different ways, and all options should at least be on the table.
—by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Lawrence H. Summers We are nowhere near the end of the pandemic. Yet covid-19 is a prelude to more and possibly worse pandemics to come. Scientists have repeatedly warned that in the years to come outbreaks will be more frequent, spread more quickly and take more lives. Together with the world’s dwindling biodiversity and continue
In the Newsletter I have additional comments on August housing startsCurrently there are also 702 thousand multi-family units under construction. This is the highest level since 1974! For multi-family, construction delays are a factor. The completion of these units should help with rent pressure.
The new ECB president must encourage governments to take more pro-growth policies A highly regarded doctor assumes the care of a chronically impaired patient who is growing weaker and more vulnerable. The patient’s longstanding treatment is not only becoming less effective; now it is also introducing harmful side effects. A better approach exists, but it is not available at the new doctor’s…
The Fed Has Liquidated Its Entire Corporate Bond Portfolio
Last March capital markets as we once knew them ceased to exist: that's when the Powell Fed crossed a Rubicon even Ben Bernanke dared not breach and announced that it would start buying single-name corporate bonds and ETFs under its Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility (SMCCF) with both IG and HY names eligible for…
Goldman Issues A Dire Warning On China's Property Sector
No matter how the Evergrande drama plays out, whether it culminates with an uncontrolled, chaotic default and/or liquidation which sparks a crash in real estate values, or with Beijing blinking and bailing out the core pillar of China's housing market, remember that Evergrande is just a symptom of the trends that have whipsawed…
From Matthew Graham at Mortgage News Daily: MBS RECAP: Surprise Snowball Rally as Stocks Swoon Over Global RisksIt remains to be seen how long the stock swoon continues as there is some disagreement about whether the Evergrande drama deserves as much credit as it received today. Either way, bonds simply endured an in-range correction, and they remain more susceptible to Wednesday's Fed when it…
Rabobank: Suddenly Every Geopolitical Shock Is Rising To The Surface
By Michael Every of Rabobank
To be Frank, you are being herberts
I spent the weekend mulling over energy, monopoly, trade, supply chains, fundamentalism, geopolitics, betrayal, and war. Coincidentally, I also watched the new Dune, which was pretty, but like watching sand dry. (The 1984 Spice Diver fan-edit better…
Key Events This Extremely Busy Week: Central Bank Meetings Galore, Congress Chaos, Elections And More
Besides the "sudden" emergence of Evergrande contagion - which nobody could have possibly predicted - we are facing an extremely busy week chock-full of central bank announcements and two closely-watched elections in Canad and Germany.
The most important event this week will be the…