From the category archives:

international economy

The entire world officially owes itself more money than it can produce in the form of equity assets.  Of course, the calculation might be meaningless, since the numbers are an aggregate of the nations involved, and it doesn’t make sense to imagine the world not being able to pay itself back.
But it’s still a thought-provoking [...]

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With the US dollar increasingly perceived to be walking on shakier ground, and no significant signs in sight that the US will be able to pay off its debts without radical quantitative easing (i.e., effective devaluation of the dollar); continued unemployment levels near 10% and no short-term fix in the ongoing housing slump (more foreclosures [...]

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ETF investors have noticed the enormous growth in ETFs offered over the past two years.  We’ve gone from simple “emerging markets” ETFs like Vanguard’s VWO and iShares’ EEM/XEM to not only BRIC ETF offerings (such as Claymore’s CBQ), but now iShares Canada is offering ETFs specific to India (TSX: XID), Brazil (TSX: XBZ) and Latin [...]

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With the phenomenal growth in sovereign wealth funds over the past thirty or so years – but especially in the last ten – it’s good to stop and take a look at where this new investment phenomenon is at today in 2010.
Here’s a list of the current top 10 sovereign wealth funds around the world.* [...]

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As soon as I saw this title on the bookshelf, it caught my eye.  Since I’ve been trying to curb my spending, I just skimmed it and put it back.  Well, I returned a week later and decided to buy it after skimming it again.
I’m not finished with the book yet (although it’s just a [...]

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Highest ever one-month inflation rise in the UK for December, fiscal imbalances in Greece, weakened macro-economics in Germany, a Canadian housing market bubble, higher than 50% gains in the commodity currencies since last March (2009), and the return of hubris and risk-taking in the U.S. investment banks… what do these all have in common?
Is it [...]

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Have you ever thought about how investing will change over the next century?  What will the investment landscape look like in 2110, or even in 2080?
I have to admit, I don’t think I’ve ever thought about this specific question before.  But it occurred to me when I heard an analyst from London talking about what [...]

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