MONETARY REGIMES - CounterStrikeMedia

A CHINESE SAUDI PETROL DOLLAR?

3/28/2018

Saudis, Russians considering long-term oil production pact
Saudi Arabia is considering a long-term pact with Russia that could extend controls over world crude supplies by major petroleum exporters for several years, according to a Reuters report on Tuesday. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that Riyadh and Moscow were considering a deal to extend a short-term alliance on curbing oil output that dates back to January of last year following a collapse in crude oil prices. Prince Mohammed hopes to shift from a year-to-year agreement to a 10 to 20 year agreement. “We have agreement on the big picture, but not yet on the detail,” he said.Read More

China taking the long road to solve the petro-yuan puzzle
BY PEPE ESCOBAR
A number of pieces have to fall into place before the petrodollar moves into second place

CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICIT FOR THE U.S.

3/25/2018

How to Avoid a US-China Trade War
Shang-Jin Wei says the biggest obstacle to overcome is not steel or IP issues, but a ballooning US current-account deficit.

Is the yield curve telling us something about the US economy?
BY DAVID P. GOLDMAN
Yield spread suggests tax cuts will have more of a short-term than long-term impact on growth

CHINESE FINANCIAL RESTRUCTURING, AGAIN & ROBERT SCHILLER MAKES THE CASE FOR LINKING SOVEREIGN DEBT TO GDP

3/20/2018

China's Restructuring of Financial Regulation Is Good News for Reform
One of China’s toughest and longstanding economic challenges has been the need to slow runaway credit growth, much of it fueled by speculative investments that do not contribute to the real economy. After years of uncertainty over possible reforms of the financial regulatory system, the National...

Making the Case for Sovereign GDP-Linked Bonds
Robert Shiller touts a newly published guide for designing debt instruments that take the risk away from taxpayers.

New central bank director warns of financial risks
BY ASIA TIMES STAFF
While a stable and neutral monetary policy persists, China faces high-leverage risks, especially in state-owned enterprises

BEAR STERNS, 2008 & WHAT FIXING THE FED MEANS

3/20/2018

The Bear Stearns bailout didn’t avert the financial crisis — it caused the crisis
Peter J. Wallison | Real Clear Markets
Rather than an unsuccessful effort to avert a crisis, the Bear Stearns bailout was actually a principal cause of the disastrous panic that hit the markets six months later. To many on Wall Street and elsewhere in 2008, the rescue of Bear established a policy that the government was going to rescue all the large financial institutions. Otherwise, the bailout made no logical sense.

Fed Deals with Economy, Inflation, and Dual Mandate
Mickey Levy, E21
This week Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will oversee his first FOMC meeting. The Fed will deliberate on its monetary policy, issue an official Policy Statement, and provide updated forecasts in its quarterly Summary of Projections (SEPs). In addition, Powell will conduct his first press conference. The Fed is facing growing economic momentum and a host of thorny problems at a time when only three of seven Governors are in place. Read more here....

TURKISH DEBT DOWNGRADED AGAIN

3/19/2018

AL-MONITOR

HOW BLOCKCHAIN FAILS

3/12/2018

The Blockchain Pipe Dream
Nouriel Roubini and Preston Byrne show why the “distributed ledger” technology will fall far short of what has been promised.

WHY EGYPTIAN BOND AUCTION FAILED

3/12/2018

Was Egypt's bond sale a sign of hope or desperation?
Egypt raised $4 billion in a debt sale to help finance its budget deficit, but some economists emphasize that the government must ultimately find ways to generate income if it is to successfully deal with its economic problems and settle its debt.

THE EURO CRISIS & WHY TOYS R US GOES UNDER

3/12/2018

Return of the Euro Crisis Foretold
Desmond Lachman, AEI
Why Toys R Us Is Going Under
Megan McArdle, Washington Post

DEBT OF ONE BELT ONE ROAD, BEIJING IN SOUTH AMERICA & THE LOSS OF M2

3/6/2018

Looming ‘debt risks’ threaten Belt and Road countries
BY GORDON WATTS
A report by the Center for Global Development in Washington warns of the pitfalls ahead

First ‘Belt and Road’ asset-backed security gets green light
BY ASIA TIMES STAFF
Move broadens types of bonds which can be used to finance BRI projects

Alert over Central Asia’s China debt mars Uzbekistan’s BRI debut
GARY KLEIMAN
As Uzbekistan plans to follow its poor, isolated neighbor Tajikistan with an inaugural external bond, investor frenzy in the frontier market has cooled with higher spreads since the beginning of the year as a new Center for Global Development (CGD) report warned of “high distress risk” in commercial loans related to China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Tajikistan is prominent on the think-tank’s danger list as public debt has soared in recent years to 57% of gross...

China stops setting growth target for M2
BY ASIA TIMES STAFF
Stable and neutral monetary policy to continue, along with control of the overall money supply and scale of social financing

SOUTHCOM Tidd: China Making Aggressive Investments in South, Central America
(USNI News) Chinese businesses are exploring land development deals near the Panama Canal and offering their skills in building the region’s information technology infrastructure. These are prime examples of Beijing’s stepped-up economic involvement in the Western Hemisphere, the senior American military official for Central and South America told reporters Monday.

US official raises red flag over Chinese moves in South, Central America
BY ASIA TIMES STAFF
China's investments near Panama eyed

US STORM CLOUDS SOUTH OF THE BORDER: IMPACT OF HIGH INTEREST RATES, THE GROWTH OF A.I. & MORE. .

3/5/2018

AEI

The Myth of Sound Fundamentals
Stephen Roach highlights the exceptionally low US national saving rate – and how current policies will drive it even lower.

Why Are US Interest Rates High and Rising?
Martin Feldstein sees sustained economic growth, wider budget deficits, and mounting debt pushing up inflation expectations.

Economists vs. Scientists on Long-Term Growth
Kenneth Rogoff wonders whether we should be more worried that AI will lead to productivity gains than that it won't.

Options for Military Deployments to the U.S. Southwest Border
By Timothy Clark, Small Wars Journal: “Federal troops have had a long, but at times controversial history of operations along the U.S. Southwest Border going back as far as military conflicts with Mexican in the 1840s, with subsequent basing and excursions along and even across the border with Mexico to show force, hold territory and exhibit hegemony, defend settlers, suppress and combat Native Americans, defend against excursions from bandit and Mexican revolutionary forces, and more recently counter smuggling efforts.”