Edward Harrison: Credit Writedowns

Apr.02 -- Marc Chandler, Brown Brothers Harriman global head of currency strategy, discusses the rising dollar and using the yield curve as an indicator for economic expansion. He speaks with Bloomberg's Tom Keene and Lisa Abramowicz on "Bloomberg Surveillance."

By Marc Chandler This post was first published on Marc to Market While the pundits are talking trade wars, Chinese officials are taking the latest US provocations in stride. Pressure on China’s trade practices are not new. The US has been complaining about intellectual property violations since Bill Clinton was President. China’s trade practices have also raised the ire or US and Europe, which has resulted in tens of dozens of anti-dumping actions. China’s emergence on the...

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Two European elections – in Germany on 24 September 2017 and Italy on 4 March 2018 – warn that the peoples of Europe are drifting apart. Much of the recent deepening of these divisions can be traced to Europe’s single currency, the euro. This column argues that the political divide in Europe may now be hard to roll back absent a shift in focus to national priorities that pay urgent attention to the needs of those being left behind. The...

[unable to retrieve full-text content]A recent literature has explored growing personal wealth inequality in countries around the world. This column explores the widening wealth gap between regions and across states in Europe. Using data going back to 1900, it shows that regional convergence ended around 1980 and the gap has been growing since then, with capital regions and declining industrial regions at the two extremes. This rise in regional inequality, combined with rising personal...

By K. Kıvanç Karaman, Sevket Pamuk and Seçil Yıldırım-Karaman This article first appeared at Vox There is a notable lack of long-run analyses of monetary systems and their stability. This column addresses this gap by looking at the monetary systems of major European states between 1300 and 1914. The evidence collected suggests that, despite many switches between standards and systems, fiscal capacity and political regimes ultimately shaped patterns of monetary stability. Theories of monetary...

By K. Kıvanç Karaman, Sevket Pamuk and Seçil Yıldırım-Karaman This article first appeared at Vox There is a notable lack of long-run analyses of monetary systems and their stability. This column addresses this gap by looking at the monetary systems of major European states between 1300 and 1914. The evidence collected suggests that, despite many switches between standards and systems, fiscal capacity and political regimes ultimately shaped patterns of monetary stability. Theories of monetary...

By Marc Chandler(This post originated at Marc to Market) The idea that monetary and fiscal policy can and ought to be used to ameliorate the business cycle, to avoid the kind of boom/busts that lead to social instability and radical ideologies is a rather modern notion, and it remains somewhat controversial. Many now see it as hubris that policymakers can tame the business cycle. However, for those who subscribe, the general understanding is that policy ought to be counter-cyclical. In a...

Feb.20 -- Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman, discusses markets, yields, inflation and the dollar on "What'd You Miss?"

Feb.20 -- Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman, discusses markets, yields, inflation and the dollar on "What'd You Miss?"

By Marc Chandler Originally published on Marc to Market There is a general understanding of what happened last week. The 2.9% rise in average hourly earnings in the US reported, the fastest since 2009 spurred fears of rising inflation. The jump in US interest rates triggered equity sales and a spike in volatility, which in turn spurred the unwinding of low vol bets that had been paying off handsomely. While this consensus narrative has much to recommend itself, there is a...