ASIA: Japan’s manufacturing activity grew at the fastest pace in nearly eight years in January on stronger output and new orders, while cost pressures stayed elevated as firms continued to face supply chain delays. The final au Jibun Bank Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) in January rose to 55.4 on a seasonally adjusted basis, […]

ASIA: The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday cut its FY22 gross domestic growth product (GDP) forecast for India to 9 percent from 9.5 percent predicted in October, citing disruptions due to the Omicron wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the multilateral agency raised the country’s GDP projection for FY23 to 9 percent from 8.5 percent […]

China has asked the Fed to please not raise rates. This has confused many to wonder when China would be asking the Fed not to raise rates. The real reason is the crisis we have in emerging markets and the Sovereign Debt Crisis. Emerging Markets are one of the main victims of tightening US monetary […]

As I reported in November, Federal Reserve members are fleeing the central bank. Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida announced that he is resigning this Friday before his term ends in the midst of scandal. Similar to other Fed members who resigned in 2021, Clarida has come under harsh scrutiny for what many deem insider […]

There is a confrontation in the wind. Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister and special negotiator in the US-Russia talks in Geneva, bluntly states that NATO can no longer “push” Russia to a minor role in European and international politics. NATO must return to the borders of 1997. Russia is blaming the US for the […]

ASIA: India and China have mostly set aside their bilateral differences in order to champion the cause of developing countries at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). That seems to be changing. During the latest round of China’s trade policy review, India questioned its northern neighbor’s claim that it was a developing country since, going by […]

ASIA: India may achieve a growth of more than 9 percent in FY2023, the fund house predicts. This projection is higher than the 4.9 percent for 2022 (5.9 percent for 2021) projection for global growth by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Discretionary consumption is picking up post-Covid and should sustain provided young individuals with rising […]

ASIA: Japan’s parliament on Monday approved a record extra budget of nearly 36 trillion yen ($317 billion) for the fiscal year through March to help pandemic-hit households and businesses. The budget largely is to fund COVID-19 measures, including booster shot vaccines and oral medicines. It also includes cash payouts for families with children and a […]

ASIA: Debt problems at a major Chinese property developer have now spilled over into a vital artery of the nation’s industrial engine – the steel sector – and started to ripple through to other critical parts of the world’s second-largest economy. The spreading balance-sheet crisis at real estate firms is a warning for policymakers as […]

QUESTION: Marty; would you comment on David Stockman’s insistence that the fundamental consequence of 30 years of Fed-fueled financial asset inflation is that the prices of stocks and bonds have way overshot the mark. Thank you HW ANSWER: David Stockman was the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (1981–1985) under President Ronald Reagan. […]