31/03/2025 Uncertainty: tariffs and the Fed Distinguishing between “risk,” “uncertainty,” and “radical uncertainty” is crucial for both economic theory and its implications for markets, policy, and financial stability. Read More
15/01/2025 Trump’s tariffs – a challenge to the global economic order and to orthodox economics The Trump administration’s prospective tariff policies, though not without historical precedent, signify a pivotal inflection point in US trade and economic strategy, reflecting a combination of economic protectionism and evolving geopolitical ambitions. Read More
21/03/2024 One dot makes the difference Gavyn’s instant view of the Fed’s recent decisions and guidance Read More
24/01/2024 Central banks say there is “no rush” as no landing risk rises Markets have shifted slightly away from a soft-landing scenario for the US and global economies Read More
16/01/2024 US corporate sector remains in a strong financial condition Andy Bevan, Fulcrum’s Economic Advisor and fixed income specialist, has prepared this note on the financial condition of the US corporate sector. Read More
09/01/2024 The impact of the Taiwanese presidential election on geopolitical risk Global asset markets have entered the new year continuing to anticipate a soft landing in the US, involving significant reductions in policy rates in the major advanced economies, excluding Japan. Read More
19/12/2023 What caused the Fed’s sudden lurch towards a dovish bias? Global asset markets have moved dramatically towards a soft landing in the US, and this has dragged other developed markets in the same direction Read More
24/11/2023 The rising importance of financial conditions for Fed policy Global asset markets have increased the probability attached to a soft landing, at least in the US, over the past month Read More
13/11/2023 US recession risks – The Fulcrum and Sahm Models Global asset markets have been heavily influenced in recent weeks by four important public statements Read More
24/10/2023 Why Did Powell Change His Guidance? Markets have recently been navigating significant changes in news flow, involving geopolitical risks Read More
11/10/2023 The Fed’s latest thinking on R* and the Term Premium The performance of asset markets since the end of July has been dominated by a very large up-trend in real bond yields, with some sell-off in equity prices. Read More
17/08/2023 Yellen Reforms and GDPNow Raise US growth optimism In the last edition of this series, we suggested that growth in the global economy might be slowing down, led by weakness in the EU and China. Read More
26/07/2023 Advanced Economies Slowing? Flash PMI releases for the advanced economies in July indicate that service sectors are now generally slowing down, but there are encouraging signs that US manufacturing may be stabilising after months of weakness. Read More
19/07/2023 North Atlantic Drift There are increasingly convincing signs of declining headline and core inflation in the US, while the labour market remains very robust and recession risks appear to be falling further. Read More
12/07/2023 Renewed Bond Sell-Off Driven by Continued Strength in US Labour Market Global bond yields rose significantly in most government markets last week. US yields are now close to 15-year highs. Read More
05/07/2023 New Fed Research Suggests That US Economic Slowdown is Likely in 2023 H2 The US economy has continued to defy those who have been predicting an imminent recession. Read More
28/06/2023 Equities in 2023- a tougher second half, especially in the EU? Equity markets have dipped slightly in recent days, but only after surging in mid-June above any levels seen since the major bear phase took hold in 2022. Read More
22/06/2023 Fiscal and Monetary Policy Regimes After the Pandemic We are receiving questions about the future of the monetary and policy regimes after the pandemic shocks, as well as the impact of any changes in these regimes on financial markets. Read More
07/06/2023 Markets remain in a supply-friendly regime Sell in May and go away” is a tired old cliché among investment managers, but that does not automatically make it wrong. Will it prove correct this year? Read More
25/04/2022 Global markets driven by a huge real monetary shock Markets have continued to be driven by major macro-economic shocks in April. Read More
30/03/2022 Has the FED abandoned its average inflation target? After years of deliberation, the new framework was introduced in 2020 to cope with the dominant problem faced in the previous decade. Read More
31/01/2022 Fiscal Policy, Inflation and the Federal Reserve The outlook for global financial markets in 2022 will obviously hinge greatly on the behaviour of inflation, especially in the US. Read More
06/01/2022 The pandemic has marked a turning point for asset markets In coming years, asset allocators will need to be much more active when macro shocks occur and will need to work far harder to preserve absolute returns for their clients. Read More
11/01/2021 Bitcoin has ambitions for gold’s role Investors in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have enjoyed a phenomenal run, but they are now worried that Janet Yellen’s arrival as US Treasury secretary may herald a new era of hostility from regulators and central banks towards what boosters call “libertarian” forms of digital money. Read More
18/12/2020 The risks of the global Covid debt bridge Early in the Covid-19 pandemic, it became clear that the global economy would require a massive extension of public and private debt to avoid an extraordinarily deep and persistent depression. Read More
15/12/2020 As Covid optimism grows, investors seek to hedge against inflation risk Economic forecasters have been scrambling since mid-year to upgrade their real GDP growth projections once the current waves of the virus are controlled. Read More
16/11/2020 Democracies that failed the Covid test will struggle on climate change The second wave of the pandemic continues to gather pace in Europe and the United States, but the optimistic news about vaccines has trumped these worries in the minds of investors. Read More
06/10/2020 Global goods sector drives economic recovery The spectacular V-shaped recovery in the global economy has probably now come to an end with much more normal growth to follow. Read More
22/09/2020 Expect long-term economic scarring from Covid-19 As winter approaches in the northern hemisphere, new Covid-19 infections — which are feared to rise in cold weather — continue their inexorable worldwide march. Read More
09/09/2020 The Fed risks higher inflation to boost jobs The new framework for US monetary policy announced at the Jackson Hole symposium in August is a watershed event, for both the practice of macroeconomic policy, and the theory that lies behind it. Read More
20/07/2020 US Covid-19 surge could trigger a double-dip recession The relentless rise in the number of new US Covid-19 infections, which is being followed by increased hospitalisation rates and fatalities in the worst affected states, suggests that Anthony Fauci of the White House coronavirus task force was justified when he recently described the deteriorating situation as a “perfect storm”. Read More
14/07/2020 Central banks expand their role to address the crisis Before the economic crash caused by the coronavirus pandemic in March, it had been widely assumed that central banks would be largely impotent in the face of a renewed recession. Read More
24/06/2020 The safe-asset shortage after Covid-19 One of the long-term consequences of the 2008 financial crisis was a lack of safe assets that could be used by institutions to store their wealth, meet regulatory requirements and provide collateral to borrow additional funds. Read More
23/06/2020 Will public debt be a problem when the Covid-19 crisis is over? There is unanimity about macroeconomic policy for now, but not about an exit strategy. Read More
06/06/2020 The effects of Covid-19 could deepen secular stagnation On top of these deflationary trends, the Covid-19 lockdowns have caused a seismic shock in all the big economies. Read More
26/05/2020 Penny-pinching consumers could spell trouble for recovery Attempting to make sense of this recession right now is like peering though a thick fog. Read More