Tag Archives: savings

Negative interest rates are hurting aristocrats and pensioners

The central banks’ “extraordinary” and “non-conventional” measures are now more than a decade old and they are still going strong.

If initially they were only supposed to last for a few years after the financial crisis of 2007-2009 until things “went back to normal”, this expectation was quietly dropped once it became clear that the extraordinary had become ordinary.

But as these measures continue, their toxic side effects are increasing. They may in fact be contributing to the sluggishness of the world economy and to the lack of productive investment, rather than counteracting them.

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Bond inflows hit record, but the rally is not over yet

It seems that nothing can break the bond rally — or deflate the bond bubble, as critics would say. Inflows into bond funds have hit a record this year, in tandem with record high bond prices, but how long can the euphoria last?

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Consumer price inflation still refuses to surge; here is why

The snow has melted and it’s time to make plans for the future again. And like every spring, those plans are likely to include what has become known as “reflation” — inflation increasing again to a level where it can eat away at the mountain of debt the world’s big economies have to deal with.

Will consumer price inflation, rather than inflation in asset prices like property and securities, finally take off? There have been two interesting points of view last week on this issue.

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Central bankers are trapped by their own policies

It’s unclear when it all started, but it has reached the point where it would make the biggest banker of all times, John Pierpont Morgan, turn in his grave.

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Young people’s poverty has now become acceptable

By Antonia Oprita

A report due to be released on Tuesday by the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) is likely to make some interesting reading (and yes, I am aware of how nerdy this sounds).

The report is about the “intergenerational transmission of poverty in the UK & EU,” an issue that is becoming more and more obvious as inequality rises following the measures taken to mitigate the effects of the financial crisis on capital markets.

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