Introduction The stimulus package for the Chinese economy, presaged by the People’s Bank of China in late September, has disappointed in its size and detail, but it has achieved something…
Bob Lyddon
China’s loosening of monetary policy is so small it could be missed but it both apes the mistakes of other central banks, and breaks the global agreements it has made with them
Introduction In September, the Chinese authorities announced a package of measures to stop the fall in real estate prices, encourage investment in assets other than real estate, and bolster share…
Economic indicators are confused – but a ‘soft landing’ looks less likely than a few months ago
Introduction Governments and central banks have pinned a lot of their credibility on returning the world economy, after the Pandemic and the inflation shock, to an orderly picture of inflation…
There is no European Financial Safety Net, and therefore no Global Financial Safety Net
Introduction Financial regulators frequently refer to the Global Financial Safety Net, or GFSN, as the bulwark against a repeat of the Global Financial Crisis and the Eurozone crisis 2007-13. The…
Introduction Financial regulators and governments have made much of their success in restoring the global financial system to a state of stability after the Global Financial Crisis and the Eurozone…
Government interventions and over-borrowing have prepared the way for a re-run of the Global Financial Crisis
Introduction We recently wrote that the enormous losses being handed to taxpayers by Western central banks were in effect the second part of the same bill for the Global Financial…
Taxpayer bailouts of central banks and after the Global Financial Crisis
Introduction Governments made major interventions to shore up the financial system during the Global Financial Crisis, which lasted from 2007 until the end of the Eurozone crisis in 2012. These…
Bank of England makes the case for taxpayer bailouts of central banks: it’s mandatory
Introduction The Bank of England has taken the lead amongst the world’s central banks in issuing a working paper about how central banks can replenish their capital, now that they…
Ireland’s siphoning off of GDP and tax revenues makes a mockery of the EU Single Market
Introduction The ‘Celtic Paper Tiger’ is that part of economy tied up with servicing foreign multinationals and reducing their tax bills. It represents 65% of the Republic of Ireland’s economy,1it…
Winding-up order issued against Evergrande – what does this mean for the Chinese authorities?
Introduction On January 29th 2024 international creditors gained a winding-up order against China Evergrande Group (‘Evergrande’) in the Hong Kong courts.1 This is a test case for the rights and…