India: Geopolitics, Climate, and Growth Risks

31 May 2022 In my March 2019 blog entitled "India: Long Growth Runway Still Lies Ahead", I suggested India may enjoy faster economic growth than all other large economies during the next decade, including China. The following Chart indicates the IMF now shares this appraisal, as India's long-term potential GDP exceeds all other countries (except [...]

European Markets: Intact or In Tatters?

12 May 2022 In my 2022 Strategy blog entitled "Avoiding Stagflation?" (published 1 December 2021), I suggested global financial market volatility was poised to rise, and equity and bond returns would be negative. On a relative basis, however, I made the case for an outperformance of European markets. Much has happened during the past six [...]

USA: Too Hot, Too Cold, or Just Right?

At the 16 March FOMC meeting, US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell emphasised the central bank's determination to lower inflation towards the 2% target. To this end, the FOMC raised the Federal Funds rate by 25bp, and Chairman Powell indicated similar rate hikes should be expected at future meetings. Further, he warned the FOMC was [...]

China-Russia Friendship: How “Eternal” Is It?

15 March 2022 Recent history is full of seminal events. The two World Wars and America's emergence as a global power, the Russian Revolution, the OPEC oil embargos, Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms (perestroika, glasnot, and detente), the collapse of the Soviet Union (and the end of the Cold War), and Deng Xiaoping's "Opening Up" modernisation all [...]