Financial Times (March 10)
“At some point the music stops playing for investors.” That happened yesterday. “The initial shock was the cornonavirus outbreak’s impact on the global economy. Then came the blow of an oil price war. Next is escalating financial contagion. Markets are likely to burn until the fuel of high debt levels and aggressive risk taking is extinguished.”
Tags: Cornonavirus, Debt, Economy, Financial contagion, Investors, Markets, Music, Oil price war, Risk-taking, Shock
Wall Street Journal (June 15)
The yield on 10-year German bunds turned negative, a new low. “This is good for governments that want to finance spending on the cheap, but it’s not so good for the private risk-taking that drives economic growth. Negative interest rates reflect a lack of confidence in options for private investment. They also discourage savings that can be invested in profitable ventures. A negative 10-year bond is less a sign of monetary wizardry than of economic policy failure.”
Tags: Bunds, Confidence, Finance, Germany, Governments, Growth, Investment, Negative interest, Options, Risk-taking, Savings, Spending, Yield
Washington Post (March 15)
“The Obama administration is moving toward what could be a dangerous showdown with China over the South China Sea…. What makes this dispute so explosive is that it pits an American president who needs to affirm his credibility as a strong leader against a risk-taking Chinese president who has shown disregard for U.S. military power and who faces potent political enemies at home.”
Tags: China, Credibility, Dangerous, Disregard, Military power, Obama, Risk-taking, Showdown, South China Sea, Strong leader, U.S.
The Economist (May 24)
“Obituaries of the Great Moderation may have been premature.” Following the financial crisis, volatility has again returned to low levels characteristic of the Great Moderation. “The big question is whether the return of the Great Moderation has also prompted a return of the sort of risk-taking that produced the crisis. There are troubling signs.”
Wall Street Journal (December 16, 2013)
“China’s first lunar probe touched down over the weekend and deployed an endearingly named rover, Jade Rabbit. Congratulations are in order for this space success, all the more so because it was a peaceful exploration mission…. Mankind in general should benefit from more such risk-taking.”
Tags: China, Exploration, Jade Rabbit, Lunar probe, Mankind, Mission, Peaceful, Risk-taking, Rover, Space, Success
Washington Post (February 18)
Joblessness remains protracted in the U.S., with the CBO estimating unemployment will not fall below 7.5% until 2015. “That would make six years above 7.5 percent — the longest stretch of high joblessness in 70 years.” The U.S. economy was always distinguished by job creation. What’s changed? “To overgeneralize slightly: We have gone from being an expansive, risk-taking society to a skittish, risk-averse one.” Rather than buying today, everybody is waiting until tomorrow. “Pessimism produces a sluggish economy; a sluggish economy produces pessimism. That’s the main explanation of poor job creation.”
Tags: CBO, Economy, Job creation, Joblessness, Risk-averse, Risk-taking, U.S., Unemployment
