FedĀ  – the pause that nurtures the teenage bull

With the Fed already several hikes (and many billions in portfolio run-off ) down the road to policy re-alignment, it's natural for a new Fed Chair to consider a pause for reflection. Especially with financial markets doing most of the work, tightening financial conditions and reminding both market and economic participants alike, that the cycle …

Fahrenheit 101 – why inflation indices are so controversial.

We measure inflation using ā€œindicesā€. They are at best, very rough guides to the change in ā€œaverageā€ prices in our economy. Ā But they’re fraught with problems, like ā€œwhose average?ā€ Or indeed who is Mr and Mrs Average? So the debate as to which method is righ is very important. We’re seeing such a debate in …

Video – Paul discusses the current plight of Active Investment

Active investment is under siege – once the staple of institutional and retail investment practice, active now has an awful reputation. I recently met up with Colin Lloyd of Linear Investments in London, and in this short video we explore how we got here and why ā€œPassiveā€ investing isn’t the solution for a community desperate …

The (last) flight of the Easy Bee … how we learned to love the World’s favorite Central Bankline…

It’s nearly 6 yrs since Mario Draghi compared the euro to a bumblebee and uttered ā€œwhatever it takesā€ to calm markets. So was born the Easy Bee, re-opening the credit channel and promoting some semblance of economic growth through out the Eurozone. A success ? Well to win, at first you have to survive. It’s …

Cracking the Genetic Code of Inflation – the future is ā€œmetallic grayā€

My ex-colleage and good friend Ken Leech often recounted thatĀ ā€œthe story of interest rates is the story of inflationā€. Put differently, where inflation goes determines where interest rates go. Today, inflation is considered a mystery. Despite the trillions of dollars poured into the US, European and Japanese economies over the past ten years, inflation is …