Category Archive: 5) Global Macro

There’s No Bottom Until Frenzied Speculation Turns to Dust

Only when speculative sizzle attracts no buyers / marks will the bottom be in. There hasn't been a truly organic bottom in stocks in decades. Fifteen years of relentless central bank manipulation since the 2008-09 Global Financial Meltdown has persuaded punters that central banks will always save us should the market turn down because relentless central bank suppression of interest rates and expansion of liquidity (a.k.a. free money for financiers)...

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COP27: does it go far enough?

COP27, the United Nations climate conference, has drawn to a close in Egypt. The Economist’s environment editor, Catherine Brahic, shares her assessment on the talks' breakthroughs, the frantic conclusion of the summit and the limitations of the agreement that emerged. 00:00 - COP27 has drawn to a close 00:17 - The final 24 hours 01:04 - Successes: loss and damage and finance 02:10 - Where COP27 fell short 03:22 - Challenges for COP28 A new UN...

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Qatar and Ecuador both have a history of controversy over player nationality #worldcup #shorts



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FTX: The Dominoes of Financial Fraud Have Yet to Fall

Once assets are revealed as worth far less than claimed, insolvency is the inevitable result. If you haven't plowed through dozens of post-collapse commentaries on FTX, I'm saving you the trouble: here's a distillation of what matters going forward. If you're seeking a forensic accounting of FTX, others have done this work already.

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Why is the World Cup important to Qatar?

Qatar is about to host the most expensive World Cup ever, costing as much as $300bn. Why has this small, gas-rich kingdom chosen to host football’s most prestigious event, and how does it fit into its broader plans for economic transformation? 00:00 - Why is Qatar hosting the World Cup? 00:57 - World Cups are expensive competitions 01:56 - Qatar’s human rights violations 02:36 - Qatar’s place in the Gulf 04:43 - Qatar distinguishes itself from...

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The IRS Will Tax Less of an Estate in 2023

In 2012, the American Taxpayer Relief Act (ATRA) established, for the first time, a permanent estate tax and gift tax exemption. The exemption is the amount an individual can pass on at death without paying estate taxes. The legislation set the exemption at $5 million per person, indexed for inflation.

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Trump 2024: could he win again?

It’s official: Donald Trump is running for president in 2024. What will his campaign look like, and does he stand a chance of winning? Our Washington bureau chief reacts to the announcement. 00:00 - Trump is back 00:50 - Trump makes 2024 presidential bid 02:23 - Who is Trump’s new rival? 03:08 - What’s behind Trump’s early announcement? 03:50 - Could Trump win? Sign up the The Economist’s daily newsletter: https://econ.st/3TOTlb2 Trump is...

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2023 Retirement Plan Contribution Limits

Worried about saving enough for retirement? You can put away more next year. The IRS has just announced the new retirement plan contribution limits for 2023. The contribution limit for employees who participate in 401(k), 403(b), most 457 plans, and the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan increases to $22,500, up from $20,500.

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Where Crypto Went Wrong

You want to fix the world with finance? Then fix this: wages' share of a financialized, globalized, speculative-bubble dependent economy have been falling for decades. Fix this and you really will change the world. Anything less changes nothing.

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Weekly Market Pulse: Good News, Bad News

One thing I can tell you for certain about last week’s big rally on Thursday and Friday: there were a lot of people who desperately wanted a good excuse to buy stocks. And buy they did after a better-than-expected CPI report Thursday morning, pushing the S&P 500 up nearly 6% on the week with all of that coming on Thursday and Friday.

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Asymmetries, Distortions and Denial

When bubbles pop, it's natural selection at its most unforgiving: "adapt or die," and those who ignore or discount consequential asymmetries will have a very difficult time navigating the triage. After years of relative stability, it seems asymmetries, distortions and denial are playing out in unexpectedly destabilizing ways.

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G20: The Economist interviews Indonesia’s president

The host of this year’s G20 considers himself a key player in resolving geopolitical tension. But to many, Indonesia’s president, Joko Widodo, is a bit of a mystery. The Economist’s editor-in-chief, Zanny Minton Beddoes, sat down with him. 00:00 - Bali is hosting the G20 00:44 - Mitigating global tension 03:30 - Threat of Taiwan invasion 05:25 - Renewable energy in Indonesia 06:36 - Jokowi’s future plans To read more of our coverage on...

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COP27: who should pay for a warming planet?

Campaigners who believe world leaders are not doing enough to combat climate change are taking matters into their own hands—and suing governments and fossil-fuel companies. But can the climate catastrophe really be resolved in court? 00:00 - A rapidly warming world 01:25 - Climate effects in Peru 03:54 - Climate adaptation funding 05:17 - Peru farmer v RWE 08:36 - Rise in climate litigation cases 09:49 - Landmark win for the Torres Strait Islands...

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Iran protests: can they topple the regime?

Protests in Iran pose the biggest threat to the country’s authoritarian regime in decades. But how does an uprising transform into a revolution? Lessons from Iran’s own history offer some clues. 00:00 - How can Iran’s protests topple the regime? 01:00 - Four factors affect the success of the protests 01:20 - 1. Stronger leadership 02:50 - 2. Resilience 03:55 - 3. The regime cracks 04:55 - 4. International support Sign up to The Economist’s...

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The Unintended Consequences of Unintended Consequences

Decades of central bank distortions and regulatory / market-share capture by cartels and monopolies have completely gutted "markets," destroying their self-correcting dynamics. Unintended consequences introduce unexpected problems that may not have easy solutions.

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SMART BOURSE – L’invité de la mi-journée : Thomas Costerg (Pictet WM)

Lundi 7 novembre 2022, SMART BOURSE reçoit Thomas Costerg (Économiste senior US, Pictet WM)

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Why Belgium is now the cocaine capital of Europe

With record seizures of cocaine at Belgian ports, the country has become Europe’s cocaine-trafficking capital. As the flow of drugs increases, local authorities are struggling with corruption and violence. 00:00 - Antwerp: Europe’s cocaine trafficking capital 01:48 - How much cocaine gets seized? 03:18 - Why do traffickers choose the port of Antwerp? 05:54 - The entrepreneurial Balkan mafias 07:35 - How do cocaine mafias make a profit? 08:16 -...

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Climate change: can money stop deforestation?

Rampant deforestation has driven economic growth, but accelerates climate change. How do you put a price on trees, to make them worth more alive than dead? Film supported by Bain and Company 00:00 - Can money grow on trees? 00:55 - What Costa Rica can teach us 01:52 - Down with the trees: rapid deforestation around the world 03:15 - Why tree-planting schemes aren’t always the answer 04:24 - Paying for existing trees: carbon credits 06:38 - How to...

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Lula beats Bolsonaro: what happens now?

President Bolsonaro has lost the Brazilian election to former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva by a razor-thin margin. Will Bolsonaro and his supporters accept the result, and what does Lula’s win mean for Brazil, and for the world? 00:00 - Lula wins the Brazilian election 00:55 - How might Bolsonaro react? 01:50 - What will this mean for Lula? 03:08 - What will this mean for the world? Sign up to The Economist’s daily newsletter:...

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Is Vladimir Putin ill? We investigate

Rumours about Vladimir Putin’s health were circulating before the war in Ukraine. We investigate the claims #russia #Putin #Ukraine #shorts

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