What Trump Means for Markets: The Great Reversal
Populism thrives under deflationary conditions, as in Japan and Germany in 1928-33, but populism in power often brings high inflation
The Kuroda Conundrum: Tapering or Fuelling the Helicopter
Kuroda signing off on a tightening would be like a sumo champion going on a vegan diet.
Abemon Go: Constitutional Reform and Reflation
Prime ministers came and went like karaoke singers taking turns at the microphone.
The Widowmaker’s Message: Bring an End to Austerity
Once upon a time it was possible to view all this as some bizarre, uniquely Japanese phenomenon. No longer.
Brexit and the Unravelling of Europe
The ideological project of turning Greeks into Germans and vice versa has collided head-on with “the crooked timber of humanity.”
Time for Abenomics 2.0
Abe himself is considered a “nationalist”, which is simply a way of saying a patriot that you don’t like
Abe Still Holds The Strong Cards
Rather like a Zen master shattering the preconceptions of his acolytes, he shocked the markets by doing precisely nothing…
Abe’s Next Move: Doubling Down on Growth
The yen has acted as a financial version of the “wind of the gods” – the fortuitous typhoon that destroyed the fleet of Kublai Khan
Beware The Psycho
Back in 2002 Ben Bernanke recommended the deployment of “helicopter money” – meaning a broad-based tax cut financed by the central bank – as the best cure for deflation.
Enter the Ninja – Kuroda’s Negative Therapy
Remarkably even Zimbabwe, once the poster-child for hyperinflation, is now in deflation