In his inaugural speech, President Trump pledged a "revolution of common sense". However, as French Enlightenment philospher Voltaire warned, "common sense is not so common". In his recent so-called Liberation Day presentation, Mr. Trump combined a misreading of history and poor economic analysis; unveiling "reciprocal" tariffs on the nation's trading partners. The aim, we are [...]
Tag: yen
Japan: Now For the Hard Part
28 March 2024 In the past week, two important things happened in Japan. First of all, the Nikkei stock market index hit an all-time high; finally, eclipsing the previous record established 35 years ago. Following decades of underperformance, Japanese equities have left US stocks in the dust during the past two years. Meanwhile, the Bank [...]
Will Inflation End the Party?
28 February 2021 There's a whiff of inflation in the air: commodities are soaring, bond yields are rising, and yield curves are steepening. And, while these trends actually began last Summer (and despite Federal Reserve Chairman Powell's reassuring comments in Congress), equity market volatility is increasing. In the period ahead, financial markets will confront several [...]