Swansong When the Roman poet Juvenal used black swans as a metaphor for the impossible, it was because he thought they didn’t exist, leading to the phrase: a black swan event. But Juvenal had not been to Australia, where Europeans would encounter them for the first
The odd couple Janet Yellen was born in 1946 in Brooklyn, New York, just two months after Donald Trump, whose first encounter with the world came in the neighbouring borough of Queens. As of 20 January, the two New Yorkers will be closer still – the
Turning the tables Fifteenth century Florentine moneylenders plied their trade on small tables called ‘banca’, from which we get the word ‘bank’. Last week, in the wake of the Italian referendum, attention on markets turned just fifty miles south to the headquarters of Monte dei
Mists and mellow fruitfulness Aside of when he made a couple of quips about Boris Johnson and George Osborne, there was not much spring in his step as Philip Hammond delivered his inaugural Autumn Statement. Instead, the chancellor offered up revised assessments from the Office for
Inflation returns Hyperinflation began in thirteenth-century China when imperial eagerness to print paper money made the imperial currency close to worthless. It has since felled enough dynasties and governments to become an abiding concern of politicians, central banks and market participants alike. After several years
Rust Belt revolutions In 2005, the Trumps hosted the Clintons at their wedding in Florida; last week, it was the Sunshine State which offered the first strong indication that Donald Trump might beat Hillary Clinton to the presidency. And so he did, undermining the supposed expertise
Washington worries “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power,” said Abraham Lincoln. Last week, however, as US election polls signalled a shift in sentiment, markets made clear that they would prefer not to put this
Quarterly signals Last week came the release of the first round of headline UK economic growth data since the referendum vote – and it made for happy reading. Growth in the third quarter reached 0.5%. Dour IMF and Treasury economic forecasts for the aftermath of
Going up “When I was a boy, the most trusted man in America was the newscaster, Walter Cronkite, who once said, ‘If you’re not confused, you don’t know what’s going on.’ I would apply that to the current monetary picture – we’ve never had an experience
Sterling work ‘You either love it or you hate it,’ goes the Marmite advert. Last week Tesco apparently chose to do the latter, temporarily ending web-based sales following a price dispute with its supplier, Unilever. The dispute (dubbed ‘Marmageddon’) was merely the proximate cause – behind
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