Ideas and analysis on money, markets and the world around us.
Ukraine is part of a far bigger geopolitical picture. Russia and China want US hegemonic influence in the Eurasian continent marginalised. Following defeats for US foreign policy in Syria and Afghanistan and following…
Read the articleGold and silver rose this week continuing the rally from the depressed levels of earlier this month. In European trade this morning, gold was at $1894, up $34 on the week, while silver at $23.92 was up 32 cents. Not…
Read the articleBehind the battle to convince everyone that price inflation is not a lasting problem is the necessity to keep interest rates and bond yields suppressed. In the past, the interest rate cycle was entirely due to the…
Read the articleYesterday it was announced that in the year to end-January US CPI rose by 7.5%, against expectations of 7.3%. Shock horror!! Gold and silver initially dipped as amateur speculators feared interest rates rising sooner…
Read the articleGovernments and central banks are making the mistake of believing that growth in GDP is a primary measure of economic performance. This confuses growth, measured as a total of transactions without regard to their…
Read the articleGold and silver prices were subdued this week as markets absorbed a Bank Rate increase by the Bank of England to 0.5%, and the ECB held its deposit rate unchanged at minus 0.5%. From last Friday’s close, gold rose $23…
Read the articleTwo years after leaving the EU Britain has made almost none of the promised progress towards economic liberalisation. While Brussels hasn’t been helpful, libertarian ministers in the Tory government have been both…
Read the articleFed fund futures markets have sharply changed their outlook on Fed policy for 2022, pricing in four rate hikes in the next twelve months. This has led to a correction in both nominal yields and real-interest rate…
Read the articleGold and silver fell sharply this week in the wake of the release of the FOMC minutes, which were a wakeup call for financial markets. Gold fell $45 from last Friday’s close to trade at $1789 in Europe this morning,…
Read the articleThe Fed has just released its first public consultation paper on a dollar-based central bank digital currency. For many, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are a means of heading off private sector cryptos, but…
Read the article