Xi takes full control of China’s future

Xi Jinping has been consecrated as China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong after a new body of political thought carrying his name was added to the Communist party’s constitution.  The symbolic move came on the final day of a week-long political summit in Beijing – the 19th party congress – at which Xi has pledged

Abe’s mandate

The Japanese stock market rocketed to a 21-year high with a record 15-day winning streak after the result of the Japanese parliamentary election.  Japanese capital was pleased that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) had won the snap general election and, with its Buddhist-affiliated Komeito, the incumbent coalition had retained the two-thirds majority

The global debt mountain: a Minsky moment or Carchedi crunch?

During the current Chinese Communist party congress, Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People’s Bank of China, commented on the state of the Chinese economy.  “When there are too many pro-cyclical factors in an economy, cyclical fluctuations will be amplified…If we are too optimistic when things go smoothly, tensions build up, which could lead to a

Puerto Rico: when it rains, it pours

When it rains, it pours.  Hurricane Maria hit the island of Puerto Rico off the US mainland leaving the country devastated with no power, no food and water. Puerto Ricans are US citizens, as the island is officially a ‘US territory’ – in effect,  a colony like the French overseas territories.  But the US mainland

The monetary dilemma

According to the minutes of the last meeting of the monetary policy committee of the US Federal Reserve Bank, the most powerful monetary authority in the world, the committee members are split and unclear on what to do.  “Some participants who counselled patience expressed “concern about the recent decline in inflation” and said the Fed “could

Beware the ECB bearing gifts for Greeks

The announcement by the European Central Bank that it has so far made €7.8bn in profits from its holdings in Greek government debt reveals the true nature of the so-called bailouts of Greek government finances that the EU leaders organised in return for massive austerity measures from 2012 onwards. Back in March 2012, five years

Sunny periods followed by showers

Today, the IMF and the World Bank meet in Washington for their semi-annual conference to discuss the world economy.  In the course of the proceedings, the great and the good in the world of economics, central banking and finance get together to understand the trends and consider the policy and strategy for capital.  That includes

Economic crises: look to science or the rain gods?

Recently, mainstream economists have been debating yet again why ‘economics’ was unable to see the global financial crash coming and/or provide effective policies to end what I have described as the Long Depression that has endured since the end of the Great Recession in 2009. Mainstream economists John Quiggin and Henry Farrell summed up the