October, 2016

• 3 October

  What should worry us about Deutsche Bank

    My column last week focused on the headwinds facing the European banking system and the broader implications of Deutsche Bank’s fall from grace, including the decline in its stock price by more than half. Let’s now take a closer look at factors that are specific to the bank, including what may happen, and what probably won’t, starting with the ...

  Read More »
• 3 October

  There’s a surplus of worry about global debt levels

    There continues to be a steady drumbeat of editorials and essays warning about the danger of too much private debt. One of the most articulate and thorough of these was a recent op-ed by Richard Vague in Democracy Journal, arguing that excessive debt levels are putting the world in danger of a big economic crisis. But this worry is ...

  Read More »
• 3 October

  Colombia needs peace for economic revival

    It would be wrong to say that all Colombians have rejected their government’s peace deal with the Marxist guerrillas FARC when the turnout for the referendum was only 37percent. The accord was turned down by a razor-thin margin of 50.2percent to 49.8percent. Had the two-thirds who abstained voted, the result would have been very different. The referendum shows only ...

  Read More »
• 3 October

  India’s next rate decision shouldn’t cause anxiety

  

    Roiled by fears of a possible conflict with Pakistan, markets in India haven’t been terribly stable in recent days. But at least one source of anxiety has happily been alleviated. Investors are confident that Tuesday’s monetary policy statement from the Reserve Bank of India — the first since the departure of former governor Raghuram Rajan — will signal continuity, ...

  Read More »
• 3 October

  New immigration’s face changes the housing market

    The twin shortages plaguing the U.S. in 2016 — a shortage of cheap service labor, and a shortage of affordable housing — are products of the same little-noticed trend: For decades, the education level of immigrants has been rising. A recent report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine entitled “The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration” ...

  Read More »
• 3 October

  Economics can teach you how to dine as a couple

  

    Marriage counsellors tell us that couples frequently tie the knot without discussing the core matters that can cement or sunder their marriage: finances, children, religion. Well, let me add one under-discussed biggie to the list: restaurant dining. I am eternally astonished to find not only that many couples I know failed to discuss this key area before they marched ...

  Read More »
• 3 October

  Sliding pound lifts London stocks

  

    London / AFP The British pound slumped to a three-year low against the euro on Monday in reaction to news that Britain would begin Brexit negotiations by March. However better-than-expected British manufacturing data, ironically thanks to recent strong falls for the pound, helped London’s benchmark FTSE 100 stocks index to jump by 1.2 percent in morning trade. Sterling dropped ...

  Read More »
• 3 October

  Egypt surges on hope for good news on IMF loan

    Dubai / Reuters Egypt’s stock market rose sharply in early trade on Monday on hopes that an international financing package for the country would be finalised soon after this week’s annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group. The Egyptian stock index climbed 2.8 percent in a broad rally, with investment bank EFG Hermes rising 4.2 ...

  Read More »
• 3 October

  Tokyo shares up as Deutsche Bank woes ease

    Tokyo / AFP Tokyo shares rebounded on Monday after overseas markets rallied on easing fears over Deutsche Bank’s future, with investors shrugging off a weak Japanese business confidence report. Deutsche Bank bounced back on Friday after a source familiar with the matter said that a US fine over toxic debt it sold would be only $5.4 billion, not the ...

  Read More »
• 3 October

  Heathrow to make room for 25,000 more flights

  

    Bloomberg London Heathrow airport said it could make room for 25,000 more flights a year in the run up to construction of a new runway, improving global links at a time when Britain is likely to be exiting the European Union. The extra services would be added from 2021 until the opening of a third landing strip in 2025, ...

  Read More »