This week was billed as the most important of the year in terms of the global economy, with the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of Japan (BoJ) all meeting to set monetary policy, high level economic data out of the US ranging from inflation to retail sales, the fallout from the disastrous Group of Seven (G-7) meeting, ...

You wouldn’t know it from the government’s optimistic pronouncements, but China’s banks are still under significant stress. Although the latest plan to help them out won’t solve any fundamental problems, it will buy time — maybe enough to come up with better ideas. By several measures, Chinese banks are strained. Their official loan–to-deposit ratio increased from 65.8 percent in June ...

The European Central Bank’s (ECB) policy meeting was a masterclass from President Mario Draghi in how to ride two horses at once: calling time on quantitative easing while keeping a dovish tone. The bond-buying program will end this year — but the governing council paired this with a clear message that interest rates won’t rise before the end of summer ...