A century ago, the roaring ’20s were a time of hedonistic excess. After the horror of World War I, people wanted to rebuild, but also to forget. Wealth increased, and so did prices.
While we like to think we are smarter, or at least more knowledgeable than 100 years ago, there are worrying similarities between the two periods. If anything, the excesses this time around are much greater.
Continue readingWith almost every investor out there claiming deep commitment to the environmental, social and governance (ESG) cause, one issue on which there is surprisingly little debate is that of cryptocurrencies.
Investor enthusiasm for these two new buzzwords in the investing world is high, but few people are ready to admit that they are mutually exclusive: you cannot claim to focus on ESG and own Bitcoin at the same time.
Continue readingAs more politicians become aware of the need to do something about climate change before we’re all swallowed by the oceans we came from, discussions are focusing on how to measure what countries are doing about it and what steps to take to contain it.
An accounting trick that could save the planet should perhaps be given more attention: adjusting each country’s gross domestic product data by the effect that particular country has on climate change.
Continue readingThe fact that Italy was the first European country to be hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic seems a distant memory. Will Italy now be the first in the European Union to stage a spectacular recovery?
Even those who still do not believe that climate change is a serious threat to our way of living will need to pay attention: it could turn out to be the next Black Swan for financial markets.
Continue readingDespite good news about vaccine roll-outs, it is too early to tell when or even whether economies will fully reopen and life will go back to “normal.”
Continue readingThe fact that chatter about a wealth tax is increasing to the point where it could become reality in the UK should not be a surprise. But it would be a very odd thing for a Conservative government to be the one to actually implement it.
As executive compensation continues to increase, more evidence emerges of the link between compensation and risky behaviour that could, in the most extreme cases, lead to the collapse of the firm and why not, the global economy.
And yet some CEOs’ bonuses are being subsidised by public money, especially in the UK where the taxpayer generously tops up salaries that are too low for employees to be able to live on.
There’s no easy way to put this: the central banks are like the naked emperor in the well-known story. And the only solution that could save us from the next recession is so politically sensitive that it will not be put into practice.
By Sourajit Aiyer
Indian equities have outperformed most of their emerging market peers, as well as developed market stocks, and investors have been encouraged following the elections. What is ahead for Indian stocks?